Two Iraqi nationals living in Western Kentucky were indicted Tuesday on charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, reports the Associated Press. The 23-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green accuses 30-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan and 23-year-old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi of providing support to Al Qaeda in Iraq and plotting to transport Stinger missiles outside of the U.S.

Federal prosecutors identified Alwan as a former member of the Iraqi insurgency responsible for planting improvised explosive devices intended to kill U.S. troops. Hammadi's charges are similar. According to the Bowling Green Daily News "The men were arrested May 25 in Bowling Green. The FBI set up a mobile command center behind the Bowling Green Police Department headquarters last week, where FBI agents in camouflage, body armor and suits could be seen moving between the mobile command center and the BGPD." According to the Department of Justice, Alwan enlisted Hammadi in his mission to give support to Al Qaeda. The news release from the DoJ says Alwan's fingerprints were found on parts of an IED recovered in Iraq. Depending on their sentencing, the men could serve life in prison.

Here's a copy of the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office:

BOWLING GREEN, KY -- An Iraqi citizen who allegedly carried out numerous Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and another Iraqi national alleged to have participated in the insurgency in Iraq have been arrested and indicted on federal terrorism charges in the Western District of Kentucky.

The arrests in Bowling Green, Ky., and the criminal complaints and indictment unsealed today were announced by Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; David J. Hale, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky; Elizabeth A. Fries, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Louisville Division; and the members of the Louisville Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, both former residents of Iraq who currently reside in Bowling Green, were charged in a 23-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green on May 26, 2011. Alwan is charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals abroad; conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against U.S. nationals abroad; distributing information on the manufacture and use of IEDs; attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al-Qaeda in Iraq; as well as conspiracy to transfer, possess and export Stinger missiles. Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al-Qaeda in Iraq, as well as conspiracy to transfer, possess and export Stinger missiles.

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