CHICAGO: A US citizen of Iraqi descent has been charged in Chicago with online coordination with Daesh to recruit and encourage attacks, federal authorities said Friday.
Ashraf Al-Safoo was arrested Wednesday in the Midwestern city and charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
The 34-year-old made an initial court appearance Friday and was ordered held in federal custody.
Safoo is accused of disseminating “online propaganda promoting violence in support of (Daesh),” Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement.
The naturalized US citizen is allegedly a member of Khattab Media Foundation, an online group aligned with Daesh, authorities said.
He is accused of posting pro-Daesh “videos, articles, essays and infographics across multiple social media platforms, at the direction and in coordination with” the extremist group, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Much of the propaganda allegedly promoted violent jihad.
The government’s complaint made public Friday included posts Safoo is alleged to have written online calling on others to “roll up your sleeves” to create online content in support of Daesh.
“Participate in the war, and spread fear,” Safoo is accused of writing.
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US charges Chicago man with online recruiting for Daesh
US charges Chicago man with online recruiting for Daesh
- The 34-year-old made an initial court appearance Friday and was ordered held in federal custody
- The naturalized US citizen is allegedly a member of Khattab Media Foundation, an online group aligned with Daesh
Russia says talks on US peace plan for Ukraine ‘are proceeding constructively’
- The talks are part of the Trump administration’s push for peace, which included meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said much depends on the US posture after discussions with the Russians
A Kremlin envoy says peace talks on a US-proposed plan to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were pressing on “constructively” in Florida.
The talks are part of the Trump administration’s monthslong push for peace that also included meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week.
“The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow,” Kirill Dmitriev told reporters Saturday, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Dmitriev met with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami, the agency reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that much will depend on the US posture after discussions with the Russians. This came a day after Ukraine’s chief negotiator said his delegation had completed separate meetings in the United States with American and European partners.
Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signaled he is digging in on his maximalist demands on Ukraine, as Moscow’s troops inch forward on the battlefield despite huge losses.
On Friday, Putin expressed confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its military goals if Kyiv didn’t agree to Russia’s conditions in peace talks.
European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed from capital markets.
The talks are part of the Trump administration’s monthslong push for peace that also included meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week.
“The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow,” Kirill Dmitriev told reporters Saturday, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Dmitriev met with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami, the agency reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that much will depend on the US posture after discussions with the Russians. This came a day after Ukraine’s chief negotiator said his delegation had completed separate meetings in the United States with American and European partners.
Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signaled he is digging in on his maximalist demands on Ukraine, as Moscow’s troops inch forward on the battlefield despite huge losses.
On Friday, Putin expressed confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its military goals if Kyiv didn’t agree to Russia’s conditions in peace talks.
European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed from capital markets.
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