FEDS: MAN PLOTTED TO KILL GEORGE W. BUSH

An Iraqi man who came to the United States two years ago and applied for asylum hatched a plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush in retaliation for casualties against his compatriots during the Iraq War, the U.S. government announced Tuesday.

Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, 52, also schemed to smuggle other Iraqis into the U.S. from Mexico to aid in the plot, after which they’d be smuggled back out through Mexico, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Columbus.

Shihab insinuated he had contacts with the Islamic State group, but it did not appear the plot came close to materializing, with confidential informants briefing the FBI from April 2021 through this month, the complaint said.

Shihab was ordered held without bond by federal Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers during a short hearing in court Tuesday. Deavers scheduled a detention hearing for Friday.

Shihab was not required to enter a plea. Soumyajit Dutta, a federal public defender representing Shihab at the hearing, declined to comment. If convicted, Shihab could face up to 30 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.