US charges four with giving money to Yemen terrorists

Four men face terrorism charges for raising $22,000 and taking it from the United States to Yemen to give to late US-born Al-Qaeda leader Anwar Al-Awlaki in 2009, prosecutors said Thursday.

The bulk of the funds were obtained by making cash withdrawals on credit cards, according to a 72-page indictment which detailed how they plotted for years to get money to the now-deceased leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The men did not succeed in meeting with al-Awlaki -- who had asked for $80,000 -- and instead delivered the money to a "relative," according to e-mails cited in the indictment.

Two sets of brothers were charged.

Farooq and Ibrahim Mohammad, aged 37 and 36, were born in India. They studied engineering in Ohio and Illinois and married American women. Farooq became a US citizen, while Ibrahim is a legal resident.

Asif and Sultane Salim, aged 35 and 40, are US citizens. Asif studied at the University of Ohio at the same time as Farooq Mohammad.

The indictment details seven years of discussions about deadly attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda, along with more mundane discussions about how to best raise the money without getting caught and jokes about how engineers are over-represented among jihadists.

"I really need to go fatwa (edict handed down by a Muslim scholar) shopping for that rip-off thing," Farooq Mohammad wrote in a 2007 e-mail.

"If you want something knocked down or blown up, ask an engineer," he wrote in 2008.

They were first questioned by the FBI in 2011 and said the funds transferred amongst themselves via the Paypal Internet-based payment system. The said the money was to repay a loan Ibrahim Mohammad made to Sultane Salim to buy a house.

Asif Salim moved to the United Arab Emirates months before his brother was first questioned by the FBI.

Three other unnamed co-conspirators were also mentioned in the indictment.

"This indictment is a testament to the perseverance of those who stand watch over our nation and is a clear message to those who support terrorism -- we will not forget and you will face justice," said US Attorney Steven Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio.

Caption:Representative Image

Photo Credit: Mashable