WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) — Two Yemeni men with alleged ties to al-Qaida were charged with joining the terror group to kill Americans overseas and help build the al-Qaida network.
Saddiq Al-Abbadi, 36, and Ali Alvi, 30, appeared in a Brooklyn federal court to face charges of conspiring to kill United States nationals abroad and providing material support to al-Qaeda, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Both men were arrested in Saudi Arabia and taken to the U.S. in the custody of federal authorities. Prosecutors said the men traveled from Pakistan to Afghanistan to attack U.S. forces between 2003 and 2007. In addition, Al-Abbadi led a mid-2008 attack on U.S. forces in Paktya that left a U.S. Army Ranger dead and several others wounded, authorities said.
Court records also said the men befriended Bryant Neil Vinas, a recruit from New York, and helped him join al-Qaeda, which cleared the way for a plot against the Long Island Rail Road commuter train. Vinas was captured in 2008 and pleaded guilty on charges that include conspiracy to murder.
“There is no escape from the reach of our law for violent terrorists, especially if they target our military,” U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said. “Al-Abbadi and Alvi may have operated in the mountains of Afghanistan, but now they face justice in a courtroom in Brooklyn.”
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