Idaho man arrested in terrorism case with Utah ties

Idaho man arrested in terrorism case with Utah ties


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BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Federal authorities in Idaho said Thursday they have arrested an Uzbekistan national accused of conspiring with a designated terrorist organization in his home country and helping scheme to use a weapon of mass destruction.

The U.S. attorney's office said Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, was arrested at an apartment complex in south Boise on Thursday morning after a grand jury issued a three-count indictment as part of an investigation into his activities in Idaho and Utah.

The Idaho grand jury's indictment charges Kurbanov with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The indictment also alleges he possessed an unregistered explosive device.

A separate federal grand jury in Utah also returned an indictment charging Kurbanov with distributing information about explosives, bombs and weapons of mass destruction during a 10-day period in January 2013.

"Specifically, the grand jury has alleged that, here in Utah, Mr. Kurbanov showed videos, provided instructional shopping trips on how to make an explosive device, (and) provided verbal instructions and also written recipes for multiple kinds IEDs, improvised explosive devices," U.S. Attorney for Utah David Barlow said in a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Kurbanov also showed Internet videos on the topic, Barlow said.

The prosecutor declined to say whom Kurbanov took on the shopping trips in Utah but said that information will come out as the case moves through the courts.

The arrest, Barlow said, shows that "there is no priority that is more important than the protection of the public and the prevention and disruption of alleged terrorist activities - wherever they might occur."

Wendy Olson, the U.S. attorney in Idaho, said Kurbanov is the only person charged, and any potential threat was contained by his arrest.

"He was closely monitored during the course of the investigation," she said. "The investigation has been under way for some time."

Olson declined to share any other specifics of Kurbanov's alleged activities, including whether any potential terrorist threat or targets were domestic or abroad.

A news release from the U.S. attorney's office said Kurbanov is in the United States legally, but Olson declined to give details about his immigration status.

Kurbanov was being held in the Ada County Jail and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boise at 9 a.m. Friday.

Contributing: Andrew Wittenberg

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