The FBI issued an alert Friday for a man thought to have ties to an alleged North Carolina terrorist ring who was arrested in Kosovo last month and then released a few days later.Bajram Asllani, 29, is wanted by federal prosecutors in Raleigh. The website for the FBI's Charlotte field office posted the alert for Asllani, an ethnic Albanian, listing him as a wanted fugitive for allegedly providing material aid to terrorists and plotting acts of violence against a foreign country's citizens.
The U.S. Justice Department announced on June 17 that Asllani had been arrested in Kosovo and that U.S. officials would seek his extradition to the United States. On June 23, Judge Agnieszka Kolowiecka-Milar of the European Union Rule of Law Mission denied the extradition request, ruling Kosovo has no binding agreements with the U.S. for extradition, and Asllani was released.
Asllani is suspected of conspiring with eight other men and soliciting money for acts of jihad. Prosecutors say he collected $15,000 during a visit to Raleigh in 2009 with plans to establish a base in Kosovo. Asllani would face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him in the U.S.
Asllani joins Raleigh resident Jude Kenan Mohammad, 21, on the FBI's list of fugitives wanted in connection with the Raleigh ring. A spokesperson with the FBI said Mohammad is thought to be living in Pakistan, before declining further comment.
Seven other North Carolina men are in prison, charged with participating in the ring. Daniel Boyd, a U.S. citizen living with his family in the Johnston County community of Willow Springs, is accused of being the ringleader. A trial is tentatively scheduled for September 2011.