Washington : An American al-Qaeda member trained in Pakistan’s unruly tribal belt has been convicted by a US court for his involvement in a number of terror attacks in Afghanistan, including one on a US military base.
Convicted on nine counts, Muhamad Mahmoud Al-Farekh now faces up to life in prison. “Today, an American al-Qaeda member was brought to justice in a US courtroom,” said Acting United States Attorney Bridget Rohde. The trial evidence showed that he was involved in a variety of terrorist activities, including a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack on a US military installation in Afghanistan in 2009, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Boente.
According to court papers, prior to travelling overseas to join al-Qaeda, Farekh was a student at the University of Manitoba in Canada.
In 2007, Farekh and two fellow students travelled to Pakistan with the intention of fighting against American forces overseas. Farekh and his co-conspirators had become radicalised by watching video recordings encouraging violent jihad and listening to jihadist lectures, including lectures by now- deceased al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader Anwar al- Awlaki, reports PTI.
They travelled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, an area in the northern part of Pakistan that borders Afghani-stan and is home to al Qaeda’s base of operations, where they joined and received training from al Qaeda, federal prosecutors alleged. One of Farekh’s co-conspirators, Ferid Imam, provided wea-pons and military-type training at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan in September 2008.
