By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Four men with ties to Ohio were collecting money and other assistance to send to an al Qaida leader who was later killed in a drone strike, the Associated Press reports.
The Justice Department said two pairs of brothers planned to send money that would be used to attack U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On a trip to Yemen in 2009, one of the suspects even gave $22,000 to an associate of Anwar al-Awlaki, the Al Qaida leader.
In 2o11, a U.S. drone killed Al-Awlaki, who was accused of planning and launching several attacks against American interests
According to the AP, the indictments identify the suspects as:
— Yahya Farooq Mohammad, 37, an Indian citizen who was at Ohio State from 2002-04. He has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 2004. He also was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
— Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad, 36, an Indian citizen who was at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign from 2001-05. He has lived in Toledo since 2006. He also was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
— Asif Ahmed Salim, 35, a U.S. citizen who was at Ohio State from 2000-05. He lived in Overland Park, Kansas, from 2007-2011 before moving to the United Arab Emirates.
— Sultane Room Salim, 40, a U.S. citizen who lived in the Chicago-area from 2006-12 until moving to the Columbus area.
