{"id":387,"date":"2026-06-01T23:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T23:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=387"},"modified":"2026-06-01T23:14:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T23:14:26","slug":"iraqi-national-pleads-not-guilty-in-18-attacks-in-europe-calling-himself-a-prisoner-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=387","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi national pleads not guilty in 18 attacks in Europe, calling himself a \u2018prisoner of war\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 An Iraqi national accused of plotting at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel\u2019s war with Iran pleaded not guilty on Monday before calling himself a \u201cprisoner of war\u201d and telling a judge that children and women were being killed \u201cby your rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=385\">What to know about US military strikes on alleged drug boats<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi finally was persuaded to sit down in Manhattan federal court as two marshals approached him at a judge\u2019s urging. One marshal put his hand on his shoulder to guide him into his seat.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Saadi did not appear to be trying to be disruptive as he commented beyond his response to the charges. The charges say he conspired to provide material support to Kata\u2019ib Hizballah, an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militant group, and Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not guilty in a war situation,\u201d Al-Saadi responded, before adding through an Arabic translator: \u201cI\u2019m a prisoner of war. I\u2019m not a threat. Children and women are being killed by your rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Judge Colleen McMahon responded by saying: \u201cThe defendant will be seated please,\u201d which prompted the marshals behind Al-Saadi to move up to where he was seated.<\/p>\n<p>Both Kata\u2019ib Hizballah and Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. have been designated by the U.S. government as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. prosecutors say Al-Saadi was a Kata\u2019ib Hizballah commander.<\/p>\n<p>But his lawyer, Andrew Dalack, told the judge that his client worked for the Iraqi government, though he did not specify what position.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<!-- AP \"Read More\" embed (place mid-article) --><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The lawyer said Al-Saadi was held at an underground Turkish prison for two weeks before he was turned over to the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=383\">US to drastically slash the number of embassies in Africa that can process visas<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sure it was unpleasant, to say the least,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n<p>Dalack said Al-Saadi has been held in solitary confinement at a federal lockup in Brooklyn but was hoping to communicate with a diplomatic counsel from Iraq and his mother and siblings, although he expects the U.S. government to severely limit his communications.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Last month when the charges against Al-Saadi were announced, Dalack told reporters that his client believed he was being persecuted for his relationship with Qasem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guard leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Among the 18 attacks in Europe, Al-Saadi is charged in the firebombing of a bank in Amsterdam and <span>with stabbing Jewish men<\/span> in London.<\/p>\n<p>Federal authorities also said in court papers that he sought to attack a New York City synagogue last month and provided an undercover law enforcement officer with photos and maps of Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, that he planned to target.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Saadi is also accused of involvement in two recent attacks in Canada: an attack on a synagogue and a shooting at the <span>U.S. consulate in Toronto in March<\/span>. U.S. prosecutors said he directed and urged other people to attack U.S. and Israeli interests, including by killing Americans and Jews.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Saadi posted about the attacks on Snapchat and Telegram and spoke about them in phone calls recorded by an FBI informant whose help he solicited in planning attacks in the U.S., according to court papers.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=381\">More Mandelson files released in UK bring bad news for Starmer, but many questions remain unanswered<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Iraqi national has pleaded not guilty after being accused of plotting at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel\u2019s war with Iran. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi appeared in Manhattan federal court on Monday. He also told a judge that he was a \u201cprisoner of war.\u201d Charges were unveiled against him last month. A conspiracy charge alleges he provided material support to an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militant group called Kata\u2019ib Hizballah and Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Both have been designated by the U.S. as terror groups. He could face life in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Iraqi national pleads not guilty in 18 attacks in Europe, calling himself a \u2018prisoner of war\u2019 - Top Moving Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=387\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraqi national pleads not guilty in 18 attacks in Europe, calling himself a \u2018prisoner of war\u2019 - Top Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Iraqi national has pleaded not guilty after being accused of plotting at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel\u2019s war with Iran. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi appeared in Manhattan federal court on Monday. He also told a judge that he was a \u201cprisoner of war.\u201d Charges were unveiled against him last month. A conspiracy charge alleges he provided material support to an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militant group called Kata\u2019ib Hizballah and Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Both have been designated by the U.S. as terror groups. 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