FBI: Four men wanted to join al-Qaida and kill Americans
Posted: 11/20/2012
LOS ANGELES - Federal authorities say four Southern California men have been charged with plotting to kill Americans overseas by joining al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says the defendants were arrested for plotting to bomb government facilities and public places. They include a man who served in the U.S. Air Force.
According to a federal complaint unsealed Monday during initial appearances, 34-year-old Sohiel Omar Kabir introduced two other California men to the radical Islamist doctrine of Anwar al-Awlaki, a deceased al-Qaida leader.
Kabir served in the Air Force from 2000 to 2001. Authorities say he went to Afghanistan and communicated with the other two -- 23-year-old Ralph Deleon and 21-year-old Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales -- so he could arrange for their travel to join him and meet with his contacts for terror organizations.
They later recruited 21-year-old Arifeen David Gojali.
The complaint says Deleon and Santana told an FBI source of their plans to engage in "violent jihad."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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