Federal authorities today announced the arrest of a man from Niger and charged him with joining al Qaeda to attack US military personnel in Afghanistan and plotting bomb strikes against American diplomatic facilities in Nigeria.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors say that Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, 43, traveled from Saudia Arabia to Afghanistan to take up arms with jihadists just weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Harun adopted the nom de guerre “Spin Ghul” – which means “White Rose” – and utilized a half-dozen other aliases while working as an al Qaeda operative, officials said.
Although Harun was born in Saudi Arabia, he is a native speaker of Hausa and claims citizenship in the African nation of Niger.
While in Afghanistan, Harun was schooled in the art of terror and tutored in insurgency tactics at an al Qaeda training camp, and then between 2002 and 2003 participated in armed attacks against American forces there, officials said.
Harun then traveled to Pakistan, where he received additional al Qaeda training, and later journeyed to West Africa to launch a bomb plot, prosecutors say.
Western officials believe that Harun maintained close ties to jihadist groups operating in North and West Africa – regions where both al Qaeda and an affiliate, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, are the principal terrorist movements.
While in Nigeria, Harun conspired to use explosive devices to attack US consular and diplomatic facilities, the feds say, with potential targets located in the capital, Abuja, or in Lagos, the nation’s largest city.
In 2005, Harun was trying to make his way to Europe, but made the regrettable decision of traveling through Libya – where he was arrested at a time when Moammar Khadafy still held an authoritarian grip on life in that North African nation.
The Libyans kept Harun in custody until June 2011, when he was released during the final weeks of a civil war inspired by the so-called Arab Spring protests as Khadafy’s regime was crumbling.
Harun then boarded a vessel carrying refugees that was bound for Italy, officials said.
On board the ship, however, Harun allegedly announced his affiliation with al Qaeda and then assaulted a crew member – prompting Italian authorities to arrest him.
Then on Feb. 21, 2012, a Brooklyn federal grand jury handed down a sealed indictment charging Harun with a spectrum of terror-related offenses, including conspiracy to murder US nationals, conspiring to bomb US government facilities, providing material support to al Qaeda, and illegally using firearms and explosives.
After an extradition request by Brooklyn federal prosecutors, last July an Italian appeals court in Naples ruled that Harun could be released to face trial in New York City.
FBI agents assigned to the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force took custody of Harun in Italy on Oct. 4, and later on the same day he was arraigned in a secret sealed proceeding before a judge in Brooklyn federal court.
“The defendant was a prototype al-Qaeda operative, trained by al-Qaeda in terrorist tradecraft, deployed to fight American servicemen, and dispatched to commit terrorist attacks throughout the world,” said Loretta Lynch, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “Whether they try to attack our servicemen on the battlefield, or scheme to kill our diplomats and citizens in embassies abroad, terrorists will find no refuge,” Lynch said.
Today the feds unsealed the indictment against Harun, and announced that he will be arraigned on Friday.
mmaddux@nypost.com