Mass. native held in terror case
Accused of aiding Qaeda in Somalia
Spurred by radical Islamic beliefs, Massachusetts native Daniel J. Maldonado journeyed from the streets of Boston to the frenzied civil war in Somalia, where he allegedly conspired with Al Qaeda militants to establish a fundamentalist regime, only to end up in the custody of FBI agents when his insurgent efforts unraveled, according to court papers released yesterday.
The 28-year-old was ordered held without bail yesterday in Houston on charges of undergoing military training with a terrorist organization and conspiring to use a destructive device.
A conviction could mean life in prison.
Maldonado, also known as Daniel Aljughaifi , is the first American citizen to stand accused of terrorist activity in Somalia, where US troops recently conducted strikes on suspected terrorists in the wake of an Islamic insurrection there.
"Any who seek to aid terrorists in their mission to threaten our national security will be held to account for such serious criminal conduct," said US Attorney Don DeGabrielle in a statement.
Maldonado appeared in federal court in Houston yesterday after being flown to Texas from Africa by federal agents. His next court hearing is Feb. 20.
Maldonado, a Muslim convert who said in court he had also lived in New Hampshire, lived in the Boston area until August 2005, when he moved to Houston, prosecutors said.
He traveled to Cairo in November 2005, then to Somalia a year later, "in search of a country where he could practice true Islam," according to an FBI affidavit released yesterday that lays out the government's investigation.
On Jan. 21, he was captured by soldiers of the Kenyan military as he fled Somalia, where civil conflict between the government, aided by Ethiopian forces, and Islamic militias had broken out.
He was given over to FBI agents in Kenya. Maldonado told them he had been conducting jihad in Somalia, according to court papers.
"I would be fighting the Somali militia, and that turned into fighting the Ethiopians, and if Americans came, I would fight them, too," he is quoted as telling his FBI interrogators. He had "no problem" with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he said.
Maldonado also said he was prepared to become a suicide bomber if he was wounded or unable to fight.
Maldonado said he was given firearms, explosives, and combat training by Islamic groups in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. He said he was provided with an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition, camouflage uniforms, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. He was then taken to the city of Kismaayo, a stronghold for rebel Islamic militias. While there, he helped forcibly interrogate an alleged spy against the rebels, a flight attendant who was later reported killed.
But in Kismaayo, he contracted malaria, delaying his deployment, court papers say. Still, he managed to train with a bomb maker. During this time, Maldonado said, he came into contact with members of Al Qaeda.
He said one Al Qaeda member from Yemen would regale nighttime gatherings with tales about Osama bin Laden. The group discussed taking over Somalia, Ethiopia, and Egypt, and making them into fundamentalist Islamic states.
But when Ethiopian forces attacked their encampment, the group fled, taking a boat to another town, then traipsing through the woods for two or three days before Kenya authorities caught up with them.
A witness, identified by prosecutors as "Daniel a.k.a. Abu Mohammed," identified Maldonado from a six-man photo array as someone who attended the terrorist camp in Somalia. He also confirmed that Maldonado had engaged in weapons and bomb training. 