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4 men with Ohio ties charged with providing material support to Al Qaeda

The Assistant Attorney General for National Security has announced the indictment of four men with Ohio ties who are charged with providing material support to Al Qaeda.
Sultane Salim

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - The Assistant Attorney General for National Security announced Thursday the indictment of four terror suspects by a grand jury, including one who had been previously living in Toledo.

The four men indicted, 37-year-old Yahya Farooq Mohammad, 26-year-old Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad, 35-year-old Asif Ahmed Salim, and 40-year-old Sultane Salim, are charged with providing material support to Al Qaeda. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland says the suspects gave money to Al Qaeda leader Anwar Al-Alwaki just a few months before the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of a Northwest Flight landing in Detroit - the underwear bomber. In that case the suspect was able to detonate an explosive device but passengers subdued him and helped put out a fire.

They are also charged with conspiring to travel to Yemen to provide thousands of dollars to support violent jihad against U.S. military personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world.

When asked what led to the indictments, U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach in Cleveland said, "Well, it's just hard work. These are individuals who are working day and night, behind the scenes, to investigate and protect our country and they were able to piece together this conspiracy."

Ibrahim Mohammad moved to Toledo in 2006 and was arrested Wednesday in Texas. He appeared in court in Ft. Worth and it's believed he will be returned to Toledo.

Sultane Salim was arrested in Columbus and arraigned in federal court in Toledo Wednesday where he entered a not guilty plea and agreed to remain in detention until he selects a permanent attorney. A pre-trial conference is set for Dec. 22.

Yahya Mohammad and Asif Salim, who were both former students at The Ohio State University, are not in custody.

The indictment is 72 pages long. The U.S. Attorney's Office says all four suspects will likely face trial in Toledo once the remaining two are arrested.