2024-08-08 00:46:54
US authorities have arrested a Pakistani suspected of participating in a conspiracy to contract the murder of American politicians, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Day.Az reports, citing CNN.
According to the Justice Department indictment, the suspect is 46-year-old Pakistani citizen Asif Merchant. He was arrested on July 12 while attempting to leave the United States. According to prosecutors, he had been living in Iran for some time, and his entire family lives there.
According to the prosecution, Merchant flew from Pakistan to the United States in April and attempted to recruit people to carry out a contract killing. He met with the alleged killers, who were actually US law enforcement officers.
The assassination was planned for late August or early September. According to Justice Department documents, it was intended to be revenge for the death of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a 2020 rocket attack in Baghdad.
The strike was carried out on orders from Trump, who was then US President.
Merchant said he wanted to eliminate people who were “harming Pakistan and the Muslim world,” adding that they were not “just regular people.” He paid a cash advance of $5,000 for the job.
As part of the plot, Merchant sought men to commit the murder, a woman to serve as “intelligence,” and about 25 people “who could stage a protest as a diversion after the murder was committed,” prosecutors said.
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