Alleged al Qaeda member extradited to U.S.
By Evan Perez and Paul Cruickshank
A Tunisian man who U.S. authorities allege is an al Qaeda member was extradited Thursday from Belgium to the United States to face charges stemming from a plot to bomb a NATO base there.
Nizar Trabelsi, who was convicted in 2003 for that plot, spent 12 years in Belgian custody and was nearing the end of his sentence. The extradition could help resolve a major concern for U.S. and European terrorism officials who feared that because of shorter sentences in Belgium, Trabelsi could be freed. The same charges in the United States could carry a life sentence, if he is convicted.
Trabelsi was arrested on September 13, 2001, in Belgium - two days after the 9/11 attacks - and charged with plotting to carry out a suicide bomb attack.
Trabelsi was indicted in 2006 by a grand jury in Washington. The indictment was unsealed Thursday.
Trabelsi, 43, is charged with conspiracy to kill U.S nationals outside of the United States; conspiracy and attempt to use weapons of mass destruction; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization; and providing material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
According to the indictment, Trabelsi lived in Germany in 2000 and traveled the next year to Afghanistan, where in the spring he personally met with Osama bin Laden to volunteer for a suicide bomb attack. Federal prosecutors allege that at bin Laden's direction, he spoke with Muhammed Atef, a high-ranking member and chief military planner of al Qaeda, and met with others with whom he was to form a cell to carry out the attack.
According to the indictment, Trabelsi and others learned how to make the explosives and later traveled to Pakistan to get money for use in the plot.
In July 2001, he rented an apartment in Brussels and bought chemicals to try to make a 1,000-kilogram bomb, according to the indictment. He and others also scouted the Kleine-Brogel military base where NATO forces, including the U.S. Air Force, are based.
Trabelsi admitted to plotting to attack the base in the Belgian case.
Belgian security officials have long been worried about the Trabelsi case. A senior Belgian counterterrorism source told CNN that Trabelsi had become even more radicalized in jail. The source also said there was concern about having to conduct extensive surveillance of Trabelsi once he was released. In late 2007 Belgian security services broke up a suspected plot by extremists in Belgium to break Trabelsi free of prison.
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
send this mama to Israel for pain free fair trials as demanded by enemies of this country !!!
Hello, Phunnie boy. Anyone with half a brain knows by now that you're using the WW2 general's name for your own personal amusement and a terrible disservice to him. You should be ashamed of yourself. The gig is up!
Someone just set themselves on fire in DC and we are still worried about AL-CIAduh? What a frigging joke we have become.
Good posting, ShiverMeTimbers. Thank you.
You sucx SackMyTimber, it wasn't me; ignore the above post by ID thief jekr aka phunnie boy.
Please Phunnie boy, do cut the nasty Tea Party lingo out as it has no place here! By using your choice of words here, everyone will think that you're a Tea Partier. Are you one by some chance?
You can rest assured that they are going to torture this guy. I don't know if he is guilty as charged but everyone deserves a fair trial by jury. We have become worse than the old East Germany or Bulgaria during the Soviet days.
Extradition of this terrorist should be followed by rendition to a awful place like Pakistan, where they would do anything to him - whatever the US wants - for a fistful of US dollars.
America is the root of all terror. America has invaded sixty countries since world war 2.
In 1953 America overthrow Iran's democratic government Mohammad Mosaddegh and installed a brutal dictator Shah. America helped Shah of Iran to establish secret police and killed thousands of Iranian people.
During Iran-Iraq war evil America supported Suddam Hossain and killed millions of Iranian people. In 1989, America, is the only country ever, shot down Iran's civilian air plane, killing 290 people.
In 2003,America invaded Iraq and killed 1,000,000+ innocent Iraqi people and 4,000,000+ Iraqi people were displaced.
Now America is a failed state with huge debt. Its debt will be 22 trillion by 2015.
I'll gladly pay your airfare to any Commie country you choose. The USA will be glad to be rid of you.
Save your money, Rodentman (great name, by the way–much more creative than "John Smith." That, of course, isn't his name. I've read this very same post, word for word, at least three times. I can also say, with great confidence, that he's definitely NOT a native speaker/writer of English. He's almost certainly an Iranian or from the Middle East for whom English is a second language.
"John Smith" has become something of a hobby of mine in recent days. I'll bet you a nickel "he" isn't even a person. Yesterday I thought it was coming from Iran. Today I
I believe "he" was written to be automatically inserted in any Security Clearance article that, no matter how remotely, mentioned Iran or terrorist groups. Not sure of the source at all now; could be the enemy, aka al Qaeda.
You want some cheese? 🙂
Without US I would probably be speaking german right now. Europe owes US a lot. I al ashamed that this extradiction took so long.
Exactly what does Europe owe the U.S., Bart? The European leasers already act like vassals of the right-wing thugs in Washington the way they blindly carry out their orders. As far as this so-called "terrorist" is concerned, he should have never been extradited at all! Now they will first torture him and then try him in one of their military kangaroo courts!!!
Dude! The way thing are going in Europe, you WILL be speaking German soon enough. Germany is carrying many of the other EU members today. What delicious Irony. 🙂
Good post, John Smith. Thank you.
It is time to haul most of our congressmen and senators to jail for treason.
you must give credit to Belgium prisons for feeding well and cleaning up this smelly skunk of Muhammed; he is probably enjoying prisons too !!
Please folks, just ignore these two comments of mine here. That was only me Phunnie boy, using George patton's name to post this stupidity under his name for my own personal amusement! Anyone who buys into what I said above is just as dumb as I am!!! I love they these ignoramuses here agree with me in order to display there own stupidity!
Okay fake Phonnie boy, explain to me, why this punk looks little healthier and cleaner and not like some ethiopian hungry skeleton? Because he was getting three meals a day in prison; half of the muslim world gets one time a day, if they are lucky.
If sentenced to prison in the US, he can study law become a lawyer and get out of jail free! Our best educational system yet!
hang this beautiful mother of Mohammad.
We can't do this! He needs a "fair trial" with a jury of his peers! Do we need to import some Jihadists to serve on his jury as his peers?
Nope, just use some of the D.C. police. They shoot unarmed mothers with medical problems.
These events are actual events from history. They really happened!
Do you remember?
1. In 1968 , Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed
by a Muslim male.
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were
kidnapped and massacred by Muslim males.
3. In 1972 a Pan Am 747 was hijacked and eventually diverted
to Cairo where a fuse was lit on final approach and it was blown
up shortly after landing by Muslim males.
4. In 1973 a Pan Am 707 was destroyed in Rome , with 33 people
killed, when it was attacked with grenades by Muslim males.
5. In 1979 , the US embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim males.
6. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in
Lebanon by Muslim males.
7. In 1983 , the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by
Muslim males .
8. In 1985 , the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a
70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown
overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim males.
9. In 1985 , TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens , and a US
Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered
by Muslim males.
10. In 1988 , Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by Muslim males.
11. In 1993 , the World Trade Center was bombed the first time
by Muslim males.
12. In 1998 , the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were
bombed by Muslim males.
3. On 9/11/01 , four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles
to take down the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two,
one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and
crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed
by Muslim males.
14. In 2002 , the United States fought a war in Afghanistan
against Muslim males.
15. In 2002 , reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded by-you guessed it was a- Muslim male.
16. In 2013 , Boston Marathon Bombing 4 Innocent people
including a child killed, 264 injuredby Muslim males.
No, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?
So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly
fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners
will no longer be allowed to profile certain people.
Absolutely No Profiling!
They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women,
little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret
agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old
Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winner
and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males
alone lest they be guilty of profiling.
Have the American people completely lost their Minds, or just
their power of reason? As the writer of the award winning story 'Forrest Gump'
so aptly put it, 'Stupid Is As Stupid Does'
Is it fair to assume that Atty. Gen'l Holder will be taking time off, so that he can defend this man "pro-bono" to assure a fair and speedy trial?
If the republicans has introduced a single payer system (the ONLY system that will allow us, as an entire nation, to negotiate better health care prices), we wouldn't have to worry about Obamacare today. But since the republicans introduced NOTHING (as usual) to address the health care crisis, we now have Obamacare. Blame the republicans for Obamacare. After all it was their idea, supported by the Heritage Foundation, and implemented by Mitt Romney!!!!!
Next: US extradites Amanda Knox to Italy?
That wouldn't surprise me at all, Joliet johnny. These right-wing thugs always stick together. Remember WW2 when Hitler and Mussolini did the same thing? It's no different today between Barack Obama and the current leader of Italy!
Of when Netanyahooo sides with the Al-CIAduh guys in Syrian. Yeah, I see what you mean. 🙂
You guys are getting better at this heheheh
Another political prisoner nabbed by the right-wing thugs in Washington. I guess that he can expect to be tortured just like the rest of them at Gitmo. This is another reason why we became the most hated country in the world. What other country pulls this crap? None that I can think of. This ignoble policy needs to end!
The world is better off without this POS walking the streets. Keep him locked up until the name Al Qaeda becomes a forgotten episode in history.
The US would do better in going after current threats than guys who have spent 13 years out of the loop. If we try to put everyone in jail who doesn't particularly love us.........
This POS needs to stay in prison until he can't remember his own name.
Is everyone enjoying the imaginary shutdown
It is not imaginary. I have tried some of the services and they were closed.