A plot to kill former President George W. Bush was foiled by the FBI, reports Forbes.
According to the agency, the suspect was an Islamic State sympathizer who had intended to kill the former US President.
The man, a resident of Ohio, had plans to also smuggle Iraqi operatives in from the US-Mexico border in order to complete the operation.
The man is now in custody and also appeared in federal court in Ohio today.
The FBI reports an ISIS operative was hoping to smuggle four Iraqi men via the southern border to take out President Bush.
This is why border security matters.
In many cases, we have no idea who is coming into our country under Biden’s policies. https://t.co/LyVZMhjePe
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) May 24, 2022
Federal agencies say that the FBI used informants as well as electronic surveillance to foil the plot.
The man has been identified as Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, 52 years. He is an Iraqi national who has lived in the US since 2020 and had a pending asylum application, reports the BBC.
“The FBI claims that Mr. Shihab told a confidential source, a purported people smuggler, that he belonged to a group known as Al-Raed – Arabic for thunder – which is based in Qatar,” they report.
Shihab said in conversation with the FBI informant that he wanted to kill former President Bush for killing “many Iraqis” and for “breaking Iraq” apart.
He said that he hoped to do the killing personally and “did not care if he died, as he would have been proud to be involved.”
Shihab was allegedly in pursuit of fake police identity badges, and was asking the informant whether he knew if militants could be smuggled into the US from Mexico, and then be smuggled back out to escape.
Two of the people Shihab wanted to smuggle were former Iraqi intelligence agents with a background in assassination plots.
He was also in touch with a man who said that he was a smuggler that could bring ISIS members into the United States.
Shihab allegedly even drove to the Bush residence in Dallas, Texas to take a video of the home and the George W Bush Institute.
Shihab faces 10 years in prison for attempted smuggling into the US and 20 for his involvement in the attempted murder of a US official.
A Bush spokesperson said that he “has all the confidence in the world in the United States Secret Service and our law enforcement and intelligence communities”.
