Northeast Intelligence Network
Islamic terrorists inside the U.S.
20 June 2010: Bajram ASLLANI, 29, a/k/a “Bajram Aslani,” or “Ebu Hatab,” a resident of Mitrovica, Kosovo, has been charged in a criminal complaint with providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad. He was arrested last week by authorities in Kosovo in connection with a U.S. provisional arrest warrant issued in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Extradition from Kosovo to the U.S. is being sought so ASLLANI can stand trial in Raleigh. He faces a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted.
The case against ASLLANI originated last July when eight defendants were indicted in the Eastern District of North of Carolina on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad and other terrorist acts. Those charged in the indictment were North Carolina residents and U.S. citizens Daniel Patrick BOYD, his sons Dylan Boyd and Zakariya BOYD, Mohammad Omar Aly HASSAN, and Ziyad YAGHI. Also charged were Hysen SHERFI, a native of Kosovo and a U.S. legal permanent resident in North Carolina, Anes SUBASIC, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of North Carolina, and Jude Kenan MOHAMMED, a U.S. citizen.
Last September, a superseding indictment added additional charges against Daniel Patrick BOYD, Hysen SHERFI and Zakariya BOYD, alleging, among other things, that Daniel BOYD and SHERFI conspired to murder U.S. military personnel as part of a plot to attack troops at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia. They were also charged with possession of weapons in furtherance of a crime of violence and Daniel BOYD was further charged with providing a firearm to a convicted felon.
Last week, a criminal complaint dated 19 April 2010 was unsealed that charges that ASLLANI was a member of the conspiracy involving the defendants listed above. Specifically, the complaint alleges that he engaged in repeated communications with the conspirators, solicited money from the conspirators to establish a base of operations in Kosovo for the purpose of waging violent jihad, and tasked the conspirators with completing work to further these objectives and accepted funds from the conspirators to help him travel.
The complaint also alleges that SHERFI left Raleigh, NC for Pristina, Kosovo, on 30 July 2008, to “pursue violent jihad.” He met ASLLANI in Kosovo where they formulated their plans of jihad. ASLLANI provided SHERFI with videos related to violent jihad for the purposes of translating and distributing them. ASLLANI also directed SHERFI to collect money to buy land in Kosovo to set up an Islamic terrorist training camp where they could store weapons and ammunition and use as a base of operations for conducting Islamic terror attacks in Kosovo and elsewhere. On 5 April 2009, SHERFI returned to the U.S. where he collected money for this purpose. In July 2009, he received a check for $15,000, although was arrested on 27 July 2009 before he could take the money back to ASLLANI in Kosovo.
ASLLANI, it was noted, was arrested by Kosovar law enforcement in 2007 and been placed on house arrest. Last September, ASLLANI was convicted in absentia by a Serbian court for planning terrorist-related offenses and was sentenced to eight years in jail.
“The facts as alleged in this complaint underscore the connectivity between extremists at home and abroad and the global nature of the terrorist threat we face. At the same time, the arrest of Asllani demonstrates how effective cooperation among international partners serves to address such threats. I applaud the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about this important case,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
George E.B. Holding, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, reports, “Through Asllani’s arrest, the arm of justice is proven strong enough to reach those who would do us harm. We shall continue in our relentless effort against those aspiring to commit terrorist acts on U.S. citizens, whether here or abroad.”
“People who are plotting to harm America and Americans are no longer a world away from us. This case began in Raleigh, N.C., and now stretches across the globe, a circumstance no one would have thought possible less than 10 years ago,” said Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are meeting this new and grim reality head on, because if we don’t—the possible impact will reverberate in every corner of our society. Our mission is to keep that from happening.”
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