The Head of CAIR in Columbus, Ohio Ahmad Al-Akhras, Ph.D. acknowledged in an interview that he personally knows Nuradin M. Abdi, who has now plead Guilty in Federal Court in Columbus, Ohio with Conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in violation of USCA 239A the now convicted terrorist is expected to be sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and upon his release will be deported back to Somali.
On April 27, 1999 convicted terrorist Abdi applied for a travel document to visit Germany and Saudi Arabia to visit with family members, he concealed the true purpose of his travel plans where he actually planned on traveling to Ogaden, Ethiopia for the purposes of military style training in preparation for Jihad and received training in radio usage, weapons, guerrilla war-fare and bomb making.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wainstein said yesterday, "...while living in our country, Abdi endangered the national security of the United States by providing material support to terrorists...this case demonstrates ICE's efforts to prevent acts of terrorism through the aggressive enforcement of our immigration laws...obtaining immigration benefits through document fraud is a serious threat to public safety and national security..."
According to the facts which Abdi has now acknowledged true in federal court, he unlawfully entered the United States in 1995 using a false passport and a second time he entered the USA from Canada in 1997 using a false passport. In the ensuing years, he conspired with Christopher Paul and Iyman Farris who has been convicted of providing material support to terrorists and is serving a 20 year prison sentence. Christopher Paul was arrested in April, 2007 and is awaiting trial in Columbus, Ohio
Abdi told FBI Agents that in 2002 the conspirators agreed to blow up a Columbus area shopping mall and plans were underway between the conspirators to launch missile attacks against various landmarks in Washington, DC these admissions were corroborated subsequent to the execution of search warrants in which bank records, travel records and documents, computers and invoices were seized by federal authorities.
CAIR Head in Columbus, Ohio also has acknowledged knowing accused co-conspirator Christopher Paul and has said of the suspected co-conspirator, "...he is a loving husband and his wife and parents live in Columbus...he is a very kind person, you would want to meet him on the street and he would want to hug you with the heart he has..." On April 12, 2007 Christopher Paul entered a not guilty plea in federal court in Columbus, Ohio as to his roll in the conspiracy with convicted terrorists Abdi and Farris.
CAIR Head, Dr. Ammad Al-Akhras serves as a Commissioner on the "Columbus Community Relations Commission" established by the City of Columbus, Ohio in 1990 and on the Advisory Board of the "McMaster School for Advancing Humanities" at Defiance College and recently installed to the Executive Committee for the Ohio NAACP (According to the City of Columbus, Ohio web-site)
While CAIR brands itself as a main stream promoter of civil rights, currently underway in U.S. District Court in Dallas, Texas CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism financing case in which funds were raised for Hamas through front organizations operating around the United States. The trial of that case began on the 16 July, 2007
Last year, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) withdrew an award she presented to CAIR after learning from law enforcement about CAIR's activities, Senator Boxer subsequently said that the intelligence is disturbing and that CAIR "...gives aid to international terrorist groups."
CAIR response predictably was, "Its Islamophobia, spread by the Jews!"
