"Triangle of Terrorism:" The Web Jihadist, the Mall Bomber, and the Sailor

By Andrew Cochran

Hassan Abujihaad of Phoenix was arrested yesterday as the third member of a "Triangle of Terrorism" which has snared suspects in London and Chicago. Abujihaad is accused of providing material support for the conspiracy to kill United States nationals and of illegally providing classified information. A press release issued by the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, who has led the investigation, provides the details of the criminal complaint and the conspiracy between Abujihaad and London-based suspect Babar Ahmad. Michelle Malkin has an excellent summary of the case.

One additional note to point out: Abujihaad allegedly communicated with Ahmad while he was an enlisted Navy man with a "Secret" security clearance after the September 11 attacks. This raises questions in my mind whether the U.S. armed forces have sufficiently reviewed and revised their procedures for granting and renewing security clearances for active duty personnel. See this Lorenzo Vidino post in 2005 discussing the Abujihaad-Ahmad connection and other infiltrations by Islamists of Western armed forces. Political correctness is the enemy here.

The third connection in this triangle came from a friendship that Abujihaad had with a Chicago-area man, Derriek Shareef, who was arrested in December for planning a series of mall bombings. There is no information in the complaints indicating that Shareef and Ahmad ever communicated with each other, but Abujihaad may have motivated Shareef eventually towards his plot, who in turn led federal agents back to Ahmad's favorite sailor. That's a lesson in how jihadists and sympathizers can influence their friends.

Here is the complaint against Abujihaad, with details of the conversations that he had with a cooperating source, and here are exhibits one through three and four through seven, both composed of the the e-mails between Abujihaad and Ahmad. Here are other past CT Blog posts on this "Triangle of Terrorism":

My post on the mall bombing case, Chicago-Area Man Arrested for Allegedly Planning Mall Grenade Attack (with the complaint against Shareef)

Evan Kohlmann with Al-Qaida Commander Ibn-ul-Khattab on Babar Ahmad/Azzam.com, about a video of Chechnyan terrorist Ibn-ul-Khattab, an old friend of bin Laden, discussing his close relationship with Ahmad and Azzam Publications.

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