US charges Iraqi militia commander with terrorism offences

US charges Iraqi militia commander with terrorism offencesJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSareen HabeshianUS Department of JusticeMohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, right, pictured with Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military commander killed in a US strike in 2020A commander of an Iraqi militia has been arrested for his alleged role in planning more than a dozen terrorist attacks in North America and Europe, which prosecutors allege was in retaliation for the Iran war.Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, was plotting an attack on a New York City synagogue, and two Jewish institutions in Los Angeles, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona, say prosecutors.He is charged with six terrorism-related counts, according to a criminal complaint. His lawyer says he is facing "political prosecution". Saadi is allegedly a commander in Kataib Hezbollah, a US-designated foreign terrorist organisation operating in Iraq with ties to Iran. An Iraqi national, he was taken into custody in Turkey before being turned over to the FBI and transported to the US, the justice department said in documents unsealed on Friday. He appeared in Manhattan federal court and was detained pending trial.He "directed and urged others to attack US and Israeli interests", in retaliation for the Iran war and to "further the terrorist goals of Kata'ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps", the criminal complaint states.The charges allege he has been involved in "the planning, execution and promotion" of some 18 reported terror attacks in Europe and two in Canada against US and Israeli interests since 9 March.In the first incident, there was an attack on a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, using explosives, the complaint states. Four days later, on 13 March, there was an arson attack at a synagogue in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The following day, there was one using explosives at a Jewish school in Amsterdam, then another at the Bank of New York...