The alleged Malian terrorist appears before a New York judge

New York, December 10 An alleged Malian terrorist accused of having participated in several attacks in Mali, in one of which killed a US citizen, appeared on Saturday before a federal court judge in New York, the office of the attorney.

The suspect, identified as Fawaz Ould Ahmed Ould Ahemeid, 44, was charged for his alleged role in a March 2015 attack on La Terrasse restaurant in Bamako, in which five people died; in another perpetrated in August of the same year against the Byblos Hotel, in Sevare, in which 13 people died, including five UN workers, and a third occurred in November 2015 against the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, in which 20 people.

Among the victims of that latest attack was American Anita Ashok Datar.

According to a statement from the US attorney’s office, the accused – also identified as Ibrahim Idress and Ibrahim Dix ​​​​- was extradited to the United States yesterday.

Judge James Cho ordered his detention until the trial began.

“Ahemeid planned and carried out deadly attacks against Western citizens, including Americans, and will now be brought to justice,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said, quoted in the statement.

The three attacks were claimed by the Al Murabitun group, affiliated to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim).

The indictment presented by the prosecutor alleges that Ahemeid joined AQIM around 2007. In the first attack against the La Terrasse restaurant, he participated armed with two AK-47 assault rifles, a pistol and grenades.

In the attack on the Hotel Byblos, in the municipality of Severe, the defendant was in charge of guarding the hotel before the attack in which a single man armed with an assault rifle and bulletproof vest killed 13 people.

Similarly, prosecutors accuse him of preparing and supervising the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in the Malian capital on the morning of November 20, 2015, perpetrated by two armed men who killed 20 people, including Datar, who collaborated in Mali with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The latter assault was jointly claimed by Al Murabitun and AQIM.

In addition to the murder of Datar, Ahemeid is charged with illegal use of weapons in connection with a violent attack, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist groups AQIM and Al Murabitun, as well as illegal use of explosives.

If found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum of life imprisonment, the prosecution concluded. EFE extension

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