Former U of M student could be linked to Afghanistan car bombing, court documents suggest
Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh charged with conspiracy to support al-Qaeda attacks in U.S
Court documents reveal U.S. prosecutors have evidence that could link a former University of Manitoba student to a fatal car bombing in Afghanistan.
Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh and two other University of Manitoba students flew to Karachi, Pakistan, in March 2007 after selling their belongings, according to the FBI.
Al-Farekh, who is a U.S. citizen, was arrested in Pakistan last April and brought back to the U.S. He was charged with conspiracy to support al-Qaeda efforts to carry out attacks in the U.S. The other two remain at large.
It turns out the prosecution has evidence that could tie al-Farekh to a January 2009 attack in Afghanistan.
Court documents reveal the prosecution has submitted a report containing a comparison of al-Farekh's fingerprints in relation to evidence recovered from the bombing, which is described as a VBIED, or "vehicle-borne improvised explosive device."
The documents don't specify which bombing — but there are numerous reports from that time of a suicide car bomb attack on a heavily guarded road between the German embassy and a U.S. military base in Kabul.
Al-Farekh has been housed in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York since April.
His counsel, Sean M. Maher, complained to court in August about "barbaric conditions" because, among other things, al-Farekh was being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. The U.S. attorney general, however, maintained the special administrative measures were necessary.
Maher has indicated his client is looking for a speedy trial. His next court date is Nov. 30.
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