The United States has brought six charges of terrorism against a Nigerien member of al-Qaeda, Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, for allegedly planning to bomb its diplomatic buildings in Nigeria in 2003.
It also accused Harun of conspiracy to bomb its military personnel in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2003.
Forty-three years old Harun is to appear before a District Judge, Edward Korman, at a US Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday.
The Saudi Arabia-born citizen of Niger allegedly received al-Qaeda training in Pakistan and travelled to Africa in 2003 with the intent to conduct attacks on United States diplomatic facilities in Nigeria, where he conspired with others to carry out the attacks.
According to the government agencies, Harun joined al-Qaeda where received military-type training at al–Qaeda training camps after he had arrived Afghanistan shortly before the September 11, 2011 attacks, and ultimately fought against the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan with an al-Qaeda fighting group based in Pakistan.
Harun allegedly attempted to kill US military personnel in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2003.
He was said to have been extradited to the US on October 4, 2012 from Italy where he had been arrested as he tried entering the country on a refugee ship from Libya, where he was first arrested in 2005 and held there until his release in 2011 when the Libyan government was falling apart. Harun said he was arrested by Italian law enforcement and imprisoned in that country after proclaiming his affiliation with Al Qaeda and assaulting Italian officers on the ship.
He was arraigned in “a sealed proceeding” in federal court in Brooklyn on October 5, 2012 in a case that is now said to have been scheduled for “a public status conference” when it comes up before Justice Edward on March 22.
Federal and state government agencies revealed the charges preferred against him on Wednesday. The charges which were first filed on February 21, 2012, accused Harun of “conspiring to murder United States nationals; conspiring to bomb United States government facilities; and conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda.
He was also accused of “providing material support to al Qaeda; using firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence; and using explosives in furtherance of one or more felonies.”
The charges were announced by Loretta Lynch of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, John Carlin.
Others are the Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, George Venizelos, and Commissioner, New York City Police Department, Raymond Kelly.