Iraqi Al Qaeda Terror Suspects From Bowling Green, Kentucky, Waad Ramadan Alwan And Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, Gained Entry Despite Iraqi Terror Arrests

Terrorism arrests in Bowling Green: Case shows gaps in screening
Both suspects able to gain legal entry into U.S. despite arrests in Iraq
By DEBORAH HIGHLAND

Two Iraqi refugees who are accused of supporting efforts to kill American troops in Iraq slipped through the vetting process that allowed both of them political asylum in the United States.

Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, are facing terrorism charges after a federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned a 23-count indictment against the men Thursday.

FBI agents arrested the men here May 25 while the federal agency had a mobile command center set up behind the Bowling Green Police Department. Agents could be seen going in and out of the BGPD headquarters, where someone in an attempt to throw off suspicion had posted a sign that indicated police training was in progress.

Recognizing that the FBI would not likely set up a mobile command center in Bowling Green for a simple training exercise, the Daily News last week questioned the FBI about its presence here. FBI spokesman David Beyer told the paper last week that the federal agency had arrested two people but could not release further details until a federal judge unsealed the indictments against the men.

Alwan is accused of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals overseas, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. nationals overseas, distributing information on how to manufacture and use improvised explosive devices, attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al-Qaida in Iraq and conspiring to transfer, possess and export Stinger missiles, according to federal court records.

During recorded conversations with a confidential informant, Alwan said that he worked as an insurgent in Iraq and that he used improvised explosive devices and procured missiles while in his homeland from 2003 until 2006, when he was captured by Iraqi authorities, according to federal court records.

But somehow, Alwan, who is married and has a child here, was able to gain legal entry into this country and moved to Bowling Green in April 2009, where he lived in U.S. government subsidized housing as a political refugee. Hammadi moved to Las Vegas in July 2009 and to Bowling Green in December 2009.

“This case demonstrates specific gaps that were present in the screening process that was in place in the beginning of the administration,” a Department of Homeland Security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said in an email. “Once the administration became aware of these gaps, it took immediate steps to fill them.

“In terms of how they got refugee status ... previously, applicants’ names were vetted against a limited number of databases for any potential derogatory information. Now, all refugee applicants worldwide are subject to expanded rigorous background vetting, including biographic and biometric checks,” the Homeland Security official said.

The Bowling Green office of the FBI’s Louisville division began an investigation into Alwan in September 2009, just five months after his arrival in this country. Agents used a confidential informant and conducted surveillance of Alwan. During the investigation, Alwan believed he was providing support to al-Qaida when in fact he was providing information and material support to the FBI’s informant, according to court documents.

With the exception of the activities Alwan is accused of participating in while in Iraq, none of the money or weapons he is accused of moving or procuring in this country during the FBI’s investigation ever made it into terrorists’ hands, according to court documents. The FBI also rendered the weapons inert before Alwan or Hammadi obtained them.

Alwan told the FBI informant that he was a “Mujahid,” which is a Muslim engaged in jihad, a holy war against people they consider infidels. He further said that he is a wanted man in his homeland. He then told the confidential informant: “I didn’t come here for America. I came here to get a passport and go back to Turkey, Saudi or wherever I want.”

The confidential informant told Alwan that his superiors anticipated that he would be the leader of a cell for them in the Bowling Green area and requested that Alwan recruit like-minded people to participate, according to court records. Ultimately, Alwan recruited Hammadi to help him here. Hammadi had also been captured in Iraq by police in that country but had been able to obtain refugee status to live here.

In January, the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center identified two latent fingerprints that belonged to Alwan in a component of an unexploded IED that U.S. military personnel found in Iraq in September 2005.

Alwan is accused of conspiring from 2003-06 to commit murder of U.S. nationals outside of the United States. Between 2003-05, Alwan and other co-conspirators planted an IED in a road near Salah and Din Province, Iraq, according to the indictment. On April 5, 2005, Alwan planted an IED in Iraq in an attempt to kill U.S. military near a street detour where traffic usually caused U.S. vehicles to slow down, according to the indictment.

From October through May, Alwan is accused of teaching and demonstrating the making and use of an explosive, destructive device and weapon of mass destruction, the indictment said.

On or near Nov. 10, Alwan is accused of attempting to provide three machine guns, three rocket-propelled grenade launchers and money to terrorists, according to the indictment.

Alwan and Hammadi are accused on or near Feb. 16 of trying to provide two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, two machine guns, two cases of C4 plastic explosives, two sniper rifles and money to al-Qaida in Iraq, the indictment said. On or near March 16, the two men are accused of attempting to provide two stinger surface-to-air missile launcher systems and money to al-Qaida.

Also on or near March 16, both men are accused of attempting to export a device intended to launch and guide a heat-seeking missile, according to the indictment.

Both men sat in a federal courtroom Tuesday packed full of curious onlookers, including federal employees in Louisville. Hammadi sat grinning throughout most of the proceedings. Alwan gulped water and, with the exception of one glance toward the gallery, stared straight ahead at a facing wall during court.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Moyer determined in federal court Tuesday that both men qualify for a court-appointed legal defense after they both said through an interpreter that they can not afford a lawyer to represent them. Hammadi said under oath through an interpreter that he has $15 to his name and a 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck. It was not clear in court if the truck is completely paid off or if a bank holds a lien against it. Alwan told the court through an interpreter that he owns a 2009 Dodge Intrepid.

Department of Justice officials cautioned the public against any violence or threats of violence against Muslims or their mosques as a result of this investigation and said that the FBI investigates those crimes as well as terrorism.

“This is an indictment that charges two individuals,” David Hale, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky said after Tuesday’s court proceedings. “It is not an indictment of a religious community. It’s important to emphasize that the Department of Justice makes civil rights investigations and prosecutions a priority so that anyone who is targeted as a result of their ethnicity or faith should be protected.”

There are six refugee centers in Kentucky; two in Louisville, one in Owensboro, one in Bowling Green and two in Lexington.

From April 1, 2010, to April 1, some 1,766 refugees were moved from overseas into Kentucky. Of that number, Warren County received 443. Of the 443, 63 are from Iraq.

Attorneys for both men have asked for a detention hearing, which will be held sometime next week in federal court.