Aussie link to terror intrigue
ALLEGED Australian Islamic State facilitator Neil Prakash has emerged as a key figure in the arrest of a New York jihadist who hoped to blow up the Statue of Liberty with pressure cooker bombs and plan a massacre in Times Square.
Prakash, a 26-year-old originally from Melbourne, is in custody in Turkey while Australia works to extradite him.
US federal prosecutors revealed in a US District Court filing on New York resident Munther Omar Saleh that Prakash was involved in attempting to verify if an FBI source was a member of the terror group. The FBI source, known in court records as CHS 1, reached out online to Saleh in May, 2015.
CHS 1 contacted Saleh soon after Saleh obtained instructions on how to construct a pressure cooker bomb similar to the device “used in the Boston Marathon terrorist attack in 2013”.
Prakash is referred to as “Abu Khalid al Kambodi” and “abu Kambozz” in court records. CHS 1 used Prakash’s name in an attempt to convince Saleh he was a member of IS but Saleh became suspicious after he reached out to the IS leadership to verify this.
“An akh (brother) I never met before messaged me tell- ing me abu Kambozz sent him to me,” Saleh wrote in a message to British IS recruiter Junaid Hussain. “... I have to confirm with Abukambozz before we can work any further.”
Saleh later told Hussain he had been in contact with Prakash and Prakash denied putting CHS 1 in touch with him.
“Our akh Abu Khalid al Kambodi told me he didn’t send anyone to me,” Saleh told Hussain. Saleh then quizzed CHS 1 in an online conversation before declaring: “OK, akhi, problem is Abukambozz denied sending u.”
“Akhi I’m very sorry but I was ordered by Dawlah (IS) officials not to talk to anyone until they produce an akh of authority to vouch for them,” Saleh wrote, cutting ties with CHS 1.
Saleh was arrested about 4am on June 13, 2015 when he and a co-accused stopped their car on a busy Queens expressway and, armed with knives, ran at an unmarked FBI vehicle that had been following them.
Authorities found Saleh’s notes for planned attacks.
“I was considering that the Statue of Liberty has a very weak point in its lower back and its tilting forward, if I can get a few pressure cooker bombs to hit the weak point, I think it will fall facedown,” Saleh wrote. “Or we can hit Times Square which would be easier, but if I can get more akhs, we can perform simultaneous attacks all around NYC.”
Saleh entered guilty pleas to conspiring and attempting to provide material support to IS, and assaulting and conspiring to assault federal officers. He faces a 53-year jail term when he is sentenced next month.