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American facing IED charges 
Houston case alleges suspect planned to kill on behalf of al-Qaida

An American who is accused of guarding a flight attendant who later was murdered by radical Muslims in Somalia, and learning how to make IEDs at a compound used by al-Qaida there, is facing a court hearing Tuesday in Houston after his arrest by anti-terrorism experts and his return to the U.S.

The case is pending against Daniel Joseph Maldonado, aka Daniel Aljughaifi, 28, formerly of Houston, who was named in the government charges filed by U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle in Houston.

"Any who seek to aid terrorists in their mission to threaten our national security will be held to account for such serious criminal conduct," DeGabrielle said.

A spokeswoman in the prosecutor's office in Houston, Nancy Herrera, told WND that the hearing on Tuesday will be on Maldonado's detention and preliminary examination, at which a magistrate judge will determine whether there is probable cause in the criminal case, and whether the government will get its request of detaining him without bond.

Maldonado was returned to the U.S. just days ago after he was captured by members of the Kenyan military on Jan. 21 as he fled Somalia to avoid the military conflict between Ethiopian and Somalian forces, according to prosecutors.

Being expelled by Kenyan authorities, he was turned over to American authorities, then flown to Houston in the company of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Already being described as another John Walker Lindh, he is alleged to have traveled on his own to Somalia in late 2006 to join the Islamic Courts Union and elements of al-Qaida to fight "jihad" in Somalia. The ICU is blamed for the suicide bombers and vehicles containing improvised explosive devices just weeks earlier that targeted the leadership of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, according to federal documents.

"While in Somalia, Maldonado was … provided an AK-47, equipped with military combat uniforms and boots in Mogadishu, and participated in training camps in Kismaayo and Jilib, Somalia," prosecutors said. "The camps included physical fitness, firearms and explosives training all in preparation to go to the front to fight for the ICU."

The complaint alleges Maldonado studied at the training camps with al-Qaida members and expressed his willingness go to the front and fight, and become a suicide bomber if he was wounded.

The criminal complaint said the call for fighters on behalf of Somalia's Islamic militants came from Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, on Jan. 5. "Launch ambushes, land mines, raids and suicidal combats until you consume them as the lions and eat their prey," he said in a taped message on the Internet.

During interviews in Somalia, Maldonado said he would have "no problem" killing Americans and apostate Muslims, and that he was sympathetic to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.

"Maldonado recalled that while in Kismaayo he participated in the interrogation of a spy. The spy, a flight attendant who had a cell phone camera, was observed taking pictures of jihadis as they arrived by airplane in Kismaayo," federal agents reported. "The flight attendant was forcibly taken to a house … where he was beaten and slapped. Maldonado helped guard and interrogate the flight attendant because they both spoke English. … Maldonado admitted he was later informed that the flight attendant had been killed."

"This case represents the first criminal prosecution of an American suspected of joining forces with Islamic extremist fighters in Somalia," said Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department's National Security Division.

"The prosecution of Mr. Maldonado demonstrates the scope of our laws and serves as a warning to others who travel overseas to wage violent jihad," Wainstein said.

Also joining in the case has been Joseph Billy, assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division. "The FBI is working closely with our law enforcement and intelligence community partners in this country and around the world to bring all necessary resources to bear to protect Americans and its allies from terrorist attacks," he said.

Walker was the American who was caught in 2001 by Afghan Northern Alliance forces and questioned by CIA agent Mike Spann near Mazari Sharif. Later that day, there was a violent rebellion at the makeshift prison in which Spann was killed.

Walker was found several days later and initially identified himself as Abdul Hamid, but later provided his real name. He admitted not only being part of the Taliban, but al-Qaida, and Attorney General John Ashcroft returned him to the United States for trial.

He was indicted by a federal grant jury in 2002 on 10 charges including conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens and contributing services to al-Qaida and accepted a plea bargain with the government under which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Maldonado case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Cobe. Conspiring to use a destructive device carries a term of up to life imprisonment and receiving military training from a terrorist organization carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Just a few months earlier, DeGabrielle had confirmed that a federal grand jury also had indicted a U.S. citizen, Kobie Diallo Williams, 33, and a Pakistani national, gotcha98 Babar Mirza, 29, on charges of conspiring to train with a goal to fight with the Taliban against coalition forces in the Middle East.

"In this post 9/11 era, threats against our international security efforts are taken most seriously," DeGabrielle said. "While these subjects did not operate at a high level of sophistication in comparison with the 9/11 hijackers, the expressed goal was to aid the Taliban by training to carry out jihad against coalition troops in the Middle East," said the FBI's Roderick Beverly.

Both were ordered held without bond.