TEMPO.CO, New York - United States authorities have arrested three men at different places for conspiring to support Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadist group. Two of them had planned a trip to Syria to join the group.
One of the three people, Akhror Saidakhmetov, a teenager from Kazakhstan, was arrested on Wednesday, February 25, 2015, at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Authorities said that Saidakhmetov was attempting to board a plane to Turkey before making his way to Syria.
Another defendant, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24-year-old, was originated from Uzbekistan. Juraboev previously purchased a plane ticket to Istanbul scheduled for March 2015. The third person, Abror Habibov, 30-year-old, was accused of funding Saidakhmetov's efforts. All of the three men live in Brooklyn.
Juraboev became a person of interest of federal agents when he posted messages on an Uzbek-language website stating his desire to join ISIS. In the post, he stated that he is willing to kill US President Barack Obama.
Juraboev was interrogated in his home on August 2014, when he admit wanting to fight for ISIS’ ideology. He also told agents interrogating him about a friend, Saidakhetov, who shared similar visions.
Investigators recorded conversations between the two men by using an informant posing as a sympathizer. They discussed how to carry out attacks in the US. "I will just go a buy a machine gun, AK-47, go out and shoot all police," Saidakhmetov said during one conversation.
REUTERS | INDAH P
