2 Iraqis Living in Kentucky Charged With Terror Plotting

Two Iraqis living in Kentucky have been arrested on charges that they tried to send sniper rifles, stinger missiles, and money to al-Qaeda operatives in their home country, according to court documents unsealed today. Thirty-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan and 23-year-old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, who both have lived in Bowling Green since 2009, were charged in a 23-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury Thursday. Neither is charged with plotting attacks within the US, and authorities say their weapons and money didn't make it to Iraq because of a tightly controlled undercover investigation.

Alwan is charged with conspiracy to kill a United States national, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists and knowingly transferring, possessing, or exporting a device designed or intended to launch or guide a rocket or missile. Both men entered pleas of not guilty and were remanded to federal custody. (More weapons of mass destruction stories.)