World
The F.B.I. has arrested three foreign nationals living in Brooklyn who agents say sought to join the Islamic State. Two of the men had threatened to kill police officers and F.B.I. agents in the U.S. if they were unable to travel to Syria, the F.B.I. said per a BBC report.
The men came to the authorities' attention after they posted to Uzbek-language websites in recent months. In one post, they pledged to kill U.S. President Barack Obama, the F.B.I. said.
Abdurasul Juraboev, 24, and Abror Habibov, 30, both of Uzbekistan; and Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, of Kazakhstan, were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation. Saidakhmetov was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York on Tuesday, as he tried to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey.
Juraboev bought a plane ticket to travel from New York to Istanbul next month, federal prosecutors said.
The third suspect, Habibov, is accused of helping to fund Saidakhmeto's efforts to join the Syrian jihadists, prosecutors said.
The U.S. has charged about 20 people with planning to join militant groups overseas, many intending to go to Syria to fight with Islamic State (I.S.).
FBI said Saidakhmetov had worked for Habibov, who operates mobile-phone repair stands in malls in several cities. "I am in USA now but we don't have any arms. But is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here?" Juraboev wrote on the Uzbek-language website, according to the court papers.
The arrests came just a week after a British hunt for three teenage girls suspected of traveling to join ISIS made news, and triggered stern warnings about the threat of domestic recruitment over the Internet, Newsday reports.
ISIS "in particular is putting out a siren song through their slick propaganda," said FBI Director James Comey, pointing to violent-extremist investigations ongoing in all 50 states. "'Troubled soul, come to the Caliphate . . . And if you can't come, kill somebody where you are.' "
"This is real," said NYPD Commissioner William Bratton. "This is the concern, to inspire, without ever going to the Mideast."
