Cholo Abdi Abdullah who was arrested and accused of conspiring with Al-Shabaab to hijack a plane, will now face six charges of terrorism in the United States — By Gerald Gekara.
According to the US Department of Justice, the Kenyan national was arrested by Phillipine authorities in July last year.
He was later on deported to the custody of American authorities for prosecution on other charges.
The prosecutions department said Abdallah had arrived in Philippines to acquire pilot training as part of a terrorist scheme to hijack a commercial aircraft and crash it into a building in the US.
His internet history details several search queries on ‘how to hijack aircraft in order to conduct a 9/11-style attack’.
“This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, is a stark reminder that terrorist groups like al Shabaab remain committed to killing U.S. citizens and attacking the United States. But we remain even more resolute in our dedication to investigating, preventing, and prosecuting such lethal plots, and will use every tool in our arsenal to stop those who would commit acts of terrorism at home and abroad,” said US Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.
“Thanks to the outstanding investigative work of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the FBI’s global partnerships with law enforcement agencies around the world, Abdullah’s plot was detected before he could achieve his deadly aspirations, and now he faces federal terrorism charges in a U.S. court.”
