Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, an Iraqi national living in Columbus, Ohio, was taken into custody on Tuesday in relation to an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush.

Department of Justice said in a statement that Shihab originally entered the United States in September 2020 on a visitor visa.

“In March 2021, he filed a claim for asylum with United States citizenship, which is pending review. He lived in both Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis and worked at markets and restaurants in both cities,” the statement said. 

Shihab allegedly exchanged money with others to illegally bring foreign nationals to America. 

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In August 2021, Shihab allegedly intended to help a person, who he thought was an Iraqi national, enter the United States for a fee of $40,000.

Shihab then planned to smuggle four additional Iraqi nationals into the US for killing former President George W. Bush “in retaliation of Iraqi deaths during Operation Iraqi Freedom,” the department said in a statement quoting charging documents.

He planned to smuggle them out of the United States via the United States/Mexico border after they carried out the assassination.

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As part of the alleged plot, he allegedly traveled to Dallas from Columbus in February 2022 to conduct surveillance of locations associated with George W Bush.

The following month, he allegedly met with others in a hotel room in Columbus in order to take look at sample firearms and law enforcement uniforms.

The 52-year-old was taken into custody by FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force agents on Tuesday morning. He appeared in federal court in the afternoon and has been charged aiding and abetting plot to murder the former President.