Federal authorities have dropped a charge accusing a Kenyan man of attempting a 9/11-style attack on the United States on behalf of the al-Shabab terrorist organization. Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2019, was transferred to US custody on Tuesday on charges that he was plotting to hijack a plane and hit a building.
Abdullah pleaded not guilty to the charges, Pat Milton, CBS News senior investigative producer, reported. He has been video-charged at the Manhattan federal courthouse and is being held without bail.
Prosecutors said Abdullah received flight training in the Philippines and obtained a pilot’s license in preparation for an attack.
“This case, which involved a plot to use a plane to kill innocent victims, reminds us of the deadly threat that radical Islamic terrorists continue to pose to our nation,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John. Demers in a statement.
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Audrey Strauss, acting attorney from Manhattan, called it “a chilling retrospective of the horrific September 11, 2001 attacks.”
Abdullah, prosecutors said, began planning the attack in 2016 led by an al-Shabab commander who was also involved in planning a 2019 deadly attack on a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has designated the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated company, as a foreign terrorist organization.
He also researched possible hijacking methods and how to get a US visa.
The name of a US attorney who could speak on Abdullah’s behalf was not immediately available.