Brothers Indicted on Terror Charges

Aug. 3, 2007 — -- Zulkifli Abdhir, according to the U.S. government, is one of the world's most dangerous terrorists.

The State Department has a $5 million bounty on his head, alleging that Abdhir is part of the central command of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group suspected of ties to al Qaeda.

Thursday night, his brother, Rahmat Abdhir, a U.S. citizen who lives near San Francisco, was accused of supporting terrorism by using the U.S. mail system to send cash, rifle scopes and two-way radios to the Philippines. The radios may have been used to help his brother make bombs, the government says.

While the investigation has not revealed any evidence of a terrorist plot inside the United States, law enforcement officials say it does show that some of the world's most dangerous terrorists have support in the states.

Zulkifli Abdhir is a U.S.-trained engineer accused of teaching bomb-making techniques to terrorists overseas.

The Justice Department believes he is in the Philippines, engaged in running gun battles with troops and conducting a bombing campaign.

According to an indictment unsealed Thursday, on Oct. 10 and 11, 2006 a series of improvised explosive devices exploded in cities in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines.

One of the explosions, from a mortar shell that went off at a holiday celebration, killed five people and injured 29.

Months later, on Jan. 10, 2007, three bombings took place in the same region, killing seven people and leaving more than 40 wounded.

If captured and convicted, Zulkifli Abdhir faces up to 30 years in prison. Rahmat faces up to 28 years.