Update February 7th:  Daniel Greenfield at Frontpage magazine has a detailed account of how the alleged terrorist got into the US.

My first thought on seeing this story (thanks to reader ‘meanymom’) was—if he is a refugee, as some say, what happened to the “robust” vetting we have been promised.

Here is one version of the story from ABC-15 Arizona.  I have to laugh because they make the man described in the Dept. of Justice press release from last Friday, sound like such a (“nonreligious”) sweetheart!

Accused Al-Qaeda terrorist, Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri, was a well-known driving instructor in Phoenix

PHOENIX — Members of the Phoenix Iraqi community say they are shocked to hear that a local driving instructor has been arrested for his alleged ties to Al-Qaeda.

According to the United States Department of Justice, Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri was arrested in the Phoenix area Thursday. He is accused of murdering two Iraqi police officers in 2006.

The 42-year-old went by Ali Ahmed, and friends tell ABC15 he was well-liked in the community.

“Very nice person, we are very shocked with this news,” said Jabir Algarawi.

Algarawi said Ahmed came to Phoenix as a refugee in 2008. He said Ahmed told him he’d been shot several times in Iraq.

“He’d tell us he was against the extremists and he got shots multiple times in his body,” said Algarawi.

[….]

According to federal documents, Ahmed and other members of the Al-Qaeda group allegedly shot and killed the first lieutenant in the Fallujah Police Directorate and a police officer in the Fallujah Police Directorate in June 2006 and October 2006. Documents show the Iraqi government has witnesses.

More here.

By the way, I’m getting first hand stories about refugees who entered the US fraudulently, or have witnessed such fraud, and I’m trying to figure out how to report it.