US national indicted for helping al-Qaeda in Afghanistan

A US court today indicted a 30-year-old American national for allegedly using weapons of mass destruction against a US military base in Afghanistan.

If convicted, Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

According to court papers, Farekh assisted in the preparation of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) for use in the attack at a US military base in Afghanistan.

On January 19, 2009, two co-conspirators drove vehicles to the US military base in Afghanistan.

The first co-conspirator detonated the VBIED in his vehicle during the attack on the military base.

The second co-conspirator drove a truck containing a second VBIED to the military base, but did not detonate that device.

Farekh's fingerprints were subsequently recovered from packing tape on the VBIED that did not detonate, federal prosecutors alleged.

According to the superseding indictment filed in a US District Court in New York, between December 2006 and September 2009, Farekh provided, attempted to provide and conspired to provide material support to al-Qaeda.

The superseding indictment includes the charges from the original indictment, unsealed on May 28, that Farekh provided, attempted to provide and conspired to provide material support to terrorists.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges tomorrow.

"Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh is charged with conspiring to kill Americans overseas for his role in a VBIED attack on a US military installation in Afghanistan," said Assistant Attorney General John Carlin.

Court documents said in 2007, Farekh and two co-conspirators departed Canada for Pakistan with the intention of fighting against American forces.

They did not inform their families of their plan before departing, but called a friend in Canada upon arrival to let him know that he should not expect to hear from them again because they intended to become martyrs.

One of Farekh's co-conspirators - Ferid Imam - subsequently provided weapons and other military-type training at an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan in 2008, according to public testimony in previous EDNY criminal trials.

Among Imam's trainees were three individuals - Najibullah Zazi, Zarein Ahmedzay and Adis Medunjanin - who intended to return to the United States to conduct a suicide attack on the New York City subway system.

Zazi and Ahmedzay pleaded guilty pursuant to cooperation agreements and have yet to be sentenced; Medunjanin was convicted after trial and sentenced to life in prison.

Ferid Imam has also been indicted for his role in the plot, it said.