U.S.
AP
Three men accused of plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and wage war against the United States were arrested Wednesday on terrorism charges, including one who spoke of attacking President Barack Obama or planting a bomb at Coney Island, federal officials said.
The arrests come as U.S. officials have expressed alarm at the idea that Americans could travel to Syria to fight alongside ISIL or train there and return to the U.S. to carry out attacks against the homeland.
"Several of the defendants planned to commit acts of terror here — in America — if they could not travel, to include killing FBI agents," FBI Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez said in a statement.
"This is real," said New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. "This is the concern about the lone wolf, inspired to act without ever going to the Mideast."
Authorities said that Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, was arrested at JFK Airport, where he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul; Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, had a ticket to travel to Istanbul next month and was arrested in Brooklyn; and Abror Habibov, 30, accused of helping fund Saidakhmetov's efforts, was arrested in Florida.
Saidakhmetov is a Brooklyn resident and citizen of Kazakhstan. Juraboev and Habibov are residents of Brooklyn and citizens of Uzbekistan.
They are charged with attempt and conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. If convicted, each faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
More than 20 people have been arrested in the U.S. in the last year for trying to travel to Syria to join ISIL or other groups, including six Bosnian-Americans indicted earlier this month.
Habibov appeared in federal court in Jacksonville, Florida, and was appointed a public defender. It was unclear if the two other men had attorneys who could comment on the charges. They were scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn later Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors say Juraboev first came to the attention of law enforcement in August, when he posted on an Uzbek-language website that propagates ISIL ideology.
"Greetings! We too want to pledge our allegiance and commit ourselves while not present there," he wrote, according to federal authorities. "Is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here?"
Officials said they believed he planned to travel from Turkey to Syria to join the group. Prosecutors say Saidakhmetov also threatened an attack in the U.S. if he was unable to join ISIL. Juraboev's plans included attacks against Obama or planting a bomb on Coney Island, officials said.
"The flow of foreign fighters to Syria represents an evolving threat to our country and to our allies," said state U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, who is Obama's choice to be U.S. attorney general.
Federal officials say Juraboev identified Saidakhmetov as a friend and co-worker with a shared ideology. The two exchanged messages on how to get overseas, and Saidakhmetov and an informant watched videos of ISIL training camps in Syria, according to court papers.
Habibov operates kiosks that repair phones and sell kitchenware in malls in Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; and Philadelphia. He employed Saidakhmetov last fall and winter and said he would help fund his travel, though he did not mention a specific sum of money, prosecutors said. The two were spotted in Brooklyn purchasing a ticket for Saidakhmetov to travel to Turkey, officials said.
ISIL largely consists of Sunni Muslims from Iraq and Syria but has also drawn fighters from across the Muslim world and Europe.
More than 12,000 foreigners are believed by intelligence services to have traveled from across the planet to fight in groups in Syria and Iraq. The volunteers come from at least 81 countries — around one quarter of them reportedly hold Western citizenship.
Al Jazeera and the Associated Press
Six Bosnian immigrants charged with sending money and tactical gear to an ISIL fighter from St. Louis
Letters from French fighters published in a newspaper reveal disappointment with jihad
Where have the extremist movement's thousands of volunteers come from, and what can their home countries do in response?
Men who went to Syria to fight Assad regime reportedly found themselves fighting for ISIL and now want to go home
Freelancers loosely inspired by Al-Qaeda or ISIL may prove more dangerous than directly sponsored attackers
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