Al Qaeda terror convict deported to India, agencies to probe radicalisation angle

The United States has deported Al Qaeda terrorist Mohammed Ibrahim Zubair to India who had pleaded guilty to concealment of financing of terrorism. Zubair, who is from Hyderabad, has been brought back to India on a special flight, and security agencies will question the Al Qaeda operative after the mandatory quarantine period ends. 

Zubair, 40, is an Indian citizen who studied engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2001 through 2005. He moved to Ohio in 2006 and married a US citizen, becoming a lawful permanent resident of the United States in or around 2007. 

The Al Qaeda operative helped in concealing the provision of thousands of dollars to Anwar Al-Awlaki, a key leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in an effort to support violent jihad. Al-Awlaki is known for advocating violence against the United States and was involved in attempted terrorist attacks against civilians, according to US court documents. Al-Awlaki was later designated a terrorist and killed by a US drone in 2011.

The indictment order, states that he, 'Provided material support & resources to Awlaki to wit, currency and monetary instruments, tangible property, services and expert advice and assistance, knowing an intending that they were to be used in preparation for and in carrying out 'violent Jihad' against United States and United States military in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world'

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Facilitated transfer of money

Farooq Mohammad, one of the Al Qaeda terrorists, had travelled with two other people to Yemen in 2009 to meet Awlaki but were unsuccessful. He travelled to Sana’a to meet one of his associates where they gave him approximately $22,000 to be given to Awlaki. Zubair facilitated the transfer of the money to Farooq Mohammad overseas for him to take to Awlaki in Yemen. 

According to the US Department of Justice, Zubair attempted to conceal the source of the funds provided to Awlaki by lying to investigators and deleting emails from their accounts that were related to the transactions.

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