Malian National Faces Charges of Terrorist Support, Murdering US Citizen - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2020) A citizen of Mali allegedly supported two foreign terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (banned in Russia), and murdered an American, according to a criminal complaint announced by the US Justice Department in a press release on Thursday.

"A criminal complaint was filed yesterday in Federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging Mimi Ould Baba, 32, a citizen of Mali, with the murder of US citizen Michael J. Riddering and conspiring to provide material support, including personnel (including himself), services, and property to two designated foreign terrorist organizations, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and al-Murabitoun," the release said.

The Justice Department said the defendant is currently in custody in Mali pending investigation and prosecution by the Malian authorities.

The US criminal complaint filed in New York claims that Baba played a central role in the planning of two separate terrorist attacks directed at westerners in Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast in early 2016, the release noted.

The attacks resulted in the murder of Riddering and 48 other victims from numerous countries, the release added.

Riddering was in charge of an orphanage and a women's crisis center in Burkina Faso, according to the release.