Born: 1970;

Place of Birth: Iraq;

Gender: Male;

Nationality: Iraqi, American;

General Info:
Shihab Ahmed Shihab is an Iraqi man who has been living legally in the United States since 2020 was arrested and charged with plotting to kill former President George W. Bush to avenge the Iraq War.

He was charged in federal court with attempting to illegally bring an individual into the United States, a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and aiding and abetting the attempted murder of a former U.S. official, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Shihab originally entered the United States in September 2020 on a visitor visa, according to officials, and filed a claim for asylum in March 2021, which is pending review.

Shihab told an FBI informant that he wanted to smuggle four Iraqi nationals living in Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and Denmark into the United States through Mexico to help him carry out the assassination.

According to the search warrant, Shihab asked the FBI informant for details about security operations at Bush’s home in Dallas and ranch in Crawford, Texas, and even traveled there in February to do video surveillance.

The informant picked up Shihab at the airport in Dallas and assisted him as he used his phone to record video of Bush’s gated home as well as the library and offices at the George W. Bush Institute, according to the filing.

While Shihab was not identified as a member of the Islamic State militant group by the FBI or Justice Department, the FBI’s warrant described the smuggling plot as an “attempt to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, specifically Islamic State.”

Federal authorities began their investigation as a potential immigration fraud case, when Shihab allegedly intended to help a person he thought was another Iraqi citizen enter the United States for a fee of $40,000 in August 2021.

In March of this year, Shihab allegedly met with others in a hotel room in Columbus to “look at sample firearms and law enforcement uniforms.”

According to the FBI, he told the informant that “he wanted to be involved in the actual attack and assassination” and that he “did not care if he died as he would be proud to have been involved.”