The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested and federally charged an Iraqi citizen on Tuesday for plotting to assassinate Former President George W. Bush.The warrant for the arrest was filed in Ohio’s southern federal district court. The arrest was facilitated by a “sting operation” carried out by the FBI and Justice Department. 

Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, 52, came to the US in September 2020 on a visitor visa from Iraq. He settled in Columbus, Ohio, applied for political asylum in March 2021, and tried to marry an American woman in order to stay in the US. 

He had other plans in the US. He supported the philosophy of the Islamic State terrorist group, and he admitted to FBI informants that he wanted to smuggle foreign nationals into the US to “murder former President George W. Bush” because of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, known as “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” which killed thousands of Iraqis.

Shihab was charged for his role as an accomplice in the attempted murder of a federal official and for bringing a foreigner to the US for his own financial gain (accepting payment for bringing in foreign nationals). According to the court filings, Shihab claimed he was associated with ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Iraq, who was killed in 2019.

In June 2021, he is alleged to have attempted to pay FBI informants to smuggle Baath party members from the Middle East and Denmark into the US via the Mexican border. The end game was to assassinate Bush. “Further, Shihab stated that he wanted to be involved in the actual attack and assassination of former President Bush and did not care if he died as he would be proud to have been involved in killing former President Bush,” the FBI affidavit says.

He is said to have been involved in surveillance in Dallas in February 2022, and even traveled to Bush’s residence in Texas. 

Part of Shihab’s sinister plan was to transfer money from the US to ISIS members. 

The Justice Department said in a press release that with the help of the FBI, they set up the sting using informants to trap him by revealing his illegal dealings. In October and December 2021, the accused accepted thousands of dollars to import foreign nationals into the US, in the set-up by the FBI and Justice Department. They worked with Customs and Border Protection to trace his calls and do surveillance of his activities. 

Shihab was denied bail and his hearing is scheduled for Friday.