COLUMBUS – An Iraqi citizen living in Columbus was sentenced on Monday to nearly 15 years in federal prison for attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization as part of a plot to murder former President George W. Bush, federal officials said.
Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab believed Bush was responsible for killing Iraqis and breaking apart the country of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker.
Shihab lived in Columbus from December 2020 until his arrest in May 2022 and during much of that time, Parker says the 653-year-old man tried to smuggle Iraqis associated with ISIS into the U.S. to carry out the assassination.
In the fall of 2021, Shihab believed he successfully smuggled an ISIS member into the country but the individual was fictitious and the interaction was coordinated under the direction of the FBI, Parker said.