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Houston man facing terrorism charges appears in court

Xinhua, January 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

An Iraq-born Houston man facing terrorism-related charges appeared in federal court on Friday, local news reported.

Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, has been indicted on three terrorism-related counts, including providing material support for IS, an extremist group overrunning part of Iraq and Syria.

Al Hardan, who along with his parents live in the fourth largest city in the United States, stood before a federal judge with his translator on Friday to hear details of the indictment following his arrest at the city's Office of Homeland Security, according to local TV station ABC13 reports.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Al Hardan entered the United States as an Iraqi refugee on or about Nov. 2, 2009. He was granted legal permanent residency status in 2011 and resides in Houston.

Al Hardan has been charged with attempting to provide material support for IS, illegally obtaining his U.S. citizenship and making false statements.

The six-page indictment, which was unsealed on Thursday, alleges that Al Hardan also misrepresented to investigators his weapons training background when he denied receiving any training whatsoever. In fact, prosecutors say, he had been trained in firing an automatic machine gun.

More information and testimony in the case may be forthcoming in a bond hearing now set for next Wednesday.

If found guilty on the count of providing ISIS support, Al Hardan could be sentenced to 20 years in a federal prison and a 250,000 U.S. dollars fine. He also could see a 25-year prison term for procuring illegal citizenship.

While prosecutors have so far refused to provide details about Al Hardan's Wednesday arrest, they have indicated their belief that his plans did not specifically target the Houston area for attack.

Currently, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston is attempting to connect Al Hardan to a second refugee, Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, who was arrested on terror-related charges in Sacramento, the ABC13 report states.

Al-Jayab also reportedly faces charges of going to fight in Syria and later making untruthful statements about his activities to investigators.

"International terrorism is a high priority of my office," U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said. "We worked closely with the FBI Terrorism Task Force to ensuring the safety of the public in these matters. We will do everything we can to make sure cases of this ilk are brought to justice." Enditem