A terrorism suspect was arrested at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Tuesday as he allegedly tried to board a flight to North Africa in a plan to carry out attacks against U.S. interests, federal authorities said.
Randy Wilson, 25, of Mobile, Ala., was taken into custody in Atlanta on the same day an alleged accomplice, Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair, 25, also of Mobile, was arrested at a bus terminal in Augusta, authorities said.
Both men planned to travel first to Morocco in North Africa and then to the West African country of Mauritania to “prepare to wage violent jihad,” according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Alabama by the U.S. Justice Department.
Once in Mauritania, Wilson and Abukhdair planned to provide material support to terrorists to kill Americans or damage U.S. property outside the country, authorities said. Abukhdair was also charged with passport fraud.
U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown in Mobile said the case is a reminder that all Americans should remain vigilant against terror threats.
Wilson, also known as Rasheed Wilson, and Abukhdair are both U.S. citizens. At the time of their arrests, they were being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Mobile.
The two allegedly met online in 2010. Wilson is described in the criminal complaint as a close friend and former roommate of Omar Hammami, an American and member of the Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. Hammami, who was raised in Alabama, is believed to be a senior leader within al-Shabaab, which is an Al Qaeda affiliate. He has been indicted on U.S. terrorism charges and is on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terorrists” list.
An FBI undercover employee befriended Wilson in August 2011, and Wilson allegedly told him that he and Abukhdair planned to travel overseas to carry out terrorist attacks. By July of this year, the two men were meeting regularly with someone described in the complaint as “a confidential source working for the FBI.”
“Abukhdair and Wilson planned to travel to Casablanca, Morocco, and from there to Mauritania, where they expected to be in a position to wage violent jihad in a nearby country or conflict,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a release.
While Wilson was taken into custody Tuesday at Hartsfield-Jackson, the complaint said Abukhdair had planned to catch a flight on Dec. 13. The authorities did not say where the men were taken after their arrests in Atlanta and Augusta.
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