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.)