The FBI has halted a plot by an Iraqi citizen to assassinate former US president, George W. Bush.
Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, who lived in Columbus, Ohio, has been charged with aiding and abetting the attempted murder of a former United States official, as well as an alleged attempt to illegally bring foreign nationals to the United States, according to the Justice Department
Court documents reportedly described how Shibab did reconnaissance work by driving to the neighborhood of Bush's residence in Dallas. He is also alleged to have planned to smuggle four Iraqi nationals as part of the plot.
Shibab was arrested Tuesday, May 24, the Justice Department announced.
The FBI uncovered the plot through confidential informants, one of whom recorded discussions about the assassination plot with Shihab in meetings late 2021 and through the spring, court documents show.
Some of the assassination conversations allegedly happened in November during a trip that Shihab and the informant took from Columbus, Ohio, to the Detroit area and back, according to the warrant application and a complaint filed in court that was made public Tuesday.
During the November meeting, Shihab is alleged to have told an FBI informant that "they wished to kill former President Bush because they felt that he was responsible for killing many Iraqis and breaking apart the entire country of Iraq."
According to a report of the plot posted first by Forbes, the investigation was disclosed in a March 23 application filed under seal, seeking a search warrant for phone records of a person identified in the documents as Shihab Ahmed Shihab, who entered the US in September 2020.
Shihab allegedly described himself as a "soldier waiting for directions from the leadership in Qatar."
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