The FBI is seeking to interrogate an Egyptian man in Brazil suspected of planning terrorist attacks against the United States.
“Mohamed Ahmed Elsayed Ahmed Ibrahim is wanted for questioning by the #FBI in connection with his alleged role as an Al Qaeda operative and facilitator since approximately 2013,” the FBI said on Twitter.
The Brazilian government issued a statement shortly after the FBI’s notice saying it “stands ready to cooperate with authorities in the United States.” It said that Ibrahim, 42, has been living in Brazil since 2018. He should be considered armed and dangerous, according to the FBI.
The FBI’s notice did not include details on Ibrahim’s whereabouts within Brazil or the kind of plots in which he was involved.
While the presence of an Egyptian al Qaeda operative in Brazil may sound strange, the country’s southwest border with Argentina and Paraguay, called the Tri-Border Area, is known to harbor jihadist terrorist groups.
Mohamed Ahmed Elsayed Ahmed Ibrahim is wanted for questioning by the #FBI in connection with his alleged role as an Al Qaeda operative and facilitator since approximately 2013. He is located in Brazil: https://t.co/KIvmki9MAi pic.twitter.com/NHEQ26bQHP
— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) August 12, 2019
“U.S.-sanctioned terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, are believed to recruit, plan attacks, and fundraise in the TBA with the knowledge of local authorities,” according to the Counter Extremism Project.
Khaled Hussein Ali, the suspected leader of al Qaeda’s Brazilian online propaganda wing, Jihad Media Battalion, is believed to be operating from Brazil. The group has distributed the communications of al Qaeda leaders in at least 17 countries. Brazilian authorities, in collaboration with the FBI, arrested Ali in March 2009 after a four-month investigation. He served only 21 days in jail, as Brazil did not have a terrorism law on the books at the time.
Brazil avoided a terrorist attack in 2016 when authorities arrested 10 members of the Defenders of Sharia, a Islamist militant group planning to carry out attacks before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The FBI may have an easier time getting in touch with Ibrahim after the Brazilian justice ministry issued a new regulation in July facilitating the expulsion of dangerous foreigners.
