A Department of Energy electrical engineer has been arrested in the US on allegations that he provided support to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, including buying materials for homemade explosives and drones and travelling to Yemen.
Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, from Richland, Washington, was arrested on Thursday and is due to appear in court for the first time on Friday. Court records do not list a lawyer available to comment on his behalf.
The FBI alleges that Mr Ellaboudy wanted to help the Houthis improve their communications capabilities. Investigators say he travelled to Yemen last September, using a passport issued while he was working for the US Army Corps of Engineers to travel to Oman, which borders Yemen.
Authorities allege that, when he returned to the United States, Mr Ellaboudy told Customs and Border Protection officials he had been in Oman on a work trip and was involved in a US government mission inspecting missile defence systems.
However, an FBI affidavit says his supervisor told investigators they knew nothing about the international travel or any Energy Department missile inspection programme to which he had been assigned.
Mr Ellaboudy was also recorded speaking to FBI informants brought into the investigation, according to the affidavit. He allegedly said he had been smuggled into and out of Yemen and had hoped to reach the capital, Sanaa, to establish government-level contacts, but investigators say he was unable to get there.
The investigation began after the FBI learned that Mr Ellaboudy had bought precursor chemicals commonly used to make homemade explosive devices, including acetone and sodium bisulphate, as well as components used in drones.
During the inquiry, he allegedly communicated with several informants, including one posing as a Houthi colonel, and offered advice and assistance concerning communications equipment.
Mr Ellaboudy has been charged under a US law prohibiting the provision of material support to organisations designated as foreign terrorist organisations. The Houthis are designated under that law.
John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general leading the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said: “These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination.”
If convicted, Mr Ellaboudy faces up to 20 years in prison.
