Alleged Al Qaeda Member Charged With Bomb Plot
Abdeladim El-Kebir arrested in Germany, alleged trained at al Qaeda camp.
Nov. 10, 2011 — -- An alleged al Qaeda terrorist currently held in Germany has been charged in a U.S. court with helping the terror group plan bombing attacks.
Abdeladim El-Kebir, a Moroccan national also known as Abi al-Barra, was indicted in federal court in Brooklyn, New York and charged with conspiring to provide material support, including bombing making materials, to al Qaeda, as well as conspiring to use a destructive device.
El-Kebir, 30, has been held in Germany since his arrest with two other men by German law enforcement in Dusseldorf on April 29, 2011. The U.S. indictment did not reveal the reason for the choice of venue.
German officials alleged that when arrested the suspects were trying to build a shrapnel bomb for use in a crowded public place in Europe. Written communication with a known al Qaeda member was found when El-Kebir's home was searched. A German official told the Associated Press earlier this year that the letter seemed to indicate that El-Kebir had been part of a plot to mount an attack in Europe in fall 2010, and that Osama bin Laden had been kept informed of the plot.
German officials said that El-Kebir had trained at an al Qaeda camp in Waziristan, Pakistan near the Afghan border, and had returned to Germany in 2011 in order to carry out an attack ordered by a high-ranking al Qaeda member.
The U.S. government's investigation of El-Kebir is being conducted by the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force. El-Kebir is being prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York, and if convicted faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
