Al Qaeda terrorist Spin Ghul to be tried in New York court

A top al-Qaeda operative in Afghanistan and Pakistan, who has been held in secret US federal custody since October, will be tried in a New York court for plotting to kill American diplomats and military personnel abroad.

Charged on a six-count indictment, Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, also known as "Spin Ghul," was arrested in Italy and extradited to the United States in October 2012.
The case is scheduled for a public status conference before US District Judge Edward R Korman in New York today, federal authorities said.

Harun, 43, was born in Saudi Arabia but claims citizenship in Niger. "He 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 the US Attorney Loretta E Lynch.

According to the Justice Department on July 5, 2012, a Naples Court of Appeals found him extraditable to face the charges in the indictment pending against him in US federal court, under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and Italy.

If convicted of all the charges in the indictment, Harun faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. He is charged with crimes related to his alleged terrorist activities on behalf of al-Qaeda beginning in 2001.

According to the indictment and other court documents, Harun, beginning in 2001, traveled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan with the intent to fight violent jihad.
He arrived in Afghanistan shortly before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

He then joined al-Qaeda, received military-type training at al-Qaeda training camps, and ultimately fought against United States and Coalition forces in Afghanistan with an al-Qaeda fighting group based in Pakistan.

According to the indictment, Harun allegedly attempted to kill US military personnel in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2003. In 2003, Harun received further al-Qaeda training in Pakistan and traveled to Africa with the intent to conduct attacks on US diplomatic facilities in Nigeria.