4 L.A.-Area Men Held in Alleged Terror Plot

Four men with ties to Southern California have been charged with plotting to join Al Qaeda and the Taliban to commit “violent jihad” and target Americans, the FBI said Monday night.

One of the men, Sohiel Omar Kabir, 34, allegedly traveled in July to Afghanistan, where he arranged for terrorist training to be conducted with Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives, according to a complaint unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

Kabir, who lived in Pomona, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, federal authorities said.

In 2010, Kabir allegedly introduced Ontario resident Ralph Deleon, 23, and Upland resident Miguel Alejandro Santana, 21, to “radical and violent Islamic doctrine,” according to the complaint.

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Kabir and Santana allegedly posted terrorist audio and video files on their Facebook pages and communicated via Skype when Kabir was overseas, according to federal authorities.

The complaint said the men studied Internet essays and lectures by Anwar Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric and U.S. citizen killed in Yemen in 2011 by missiles fired from a U.S. Predator drone aircraft. {snip}

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After arriving in Afghanistan, Kabir told the two men he had arranged for them to travel to that country for terrorist training, the complaint alleged.

Santana and Deleon are accused of telling a confidential source working for the FBI that they planned to go to Afghanistan to take part in “violent jihad,” the complaint said. Santana is a permanent resident born in Mexico, authorities said, and Deleon is a permanent resident born in the Philippines.

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In September, Santana and Deleon recruited Arifeen David Gojali, 21, of Riverside to travel overseas with them and join Kabir for terrorist training, according to federal authorities. Gojali is a U.S. citizen.

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