An Indianapolis woman is under investigation for suspected terror ties, Fox News reported Tuesday. Kathie Smith, a 46-year-old grandmother, married Salahudin Ibn Ja'far last year. The 28-year-old Ja'far is believed to be a German radical who reportedly boasts of his childhood friendships with known and suspected terrorists.
Smith has praised al-Qaida terrorist mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki and "celebrated the deaths of U.S. soldiers – who she called 'terrorists' – at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and applauded another user's posting of a rendering of the two planes hitting the World Trade Center towers" on 9/11, Fox News reported.
The report cited online postings uncovered by the Jawa Report website. U.S. security officials say Smith (who now calls herself "Zubaida") frequently flies back and forth between the United States and Germany – most recently two weeks ago. Officials are investigating a video in which Smith and her husband are pictured hugging and holding weapons. Those images are mixed in with photographs of German Taliban Mujahideen (German nationals who have set up their own splinter group inside the Taliban) and an Awlaki sermon cover.
Ja'far has written in support of "noble leaders" including Awlaki, Osama bin Laden, and the 9/11 hijackers and maintained online forums hosting Awlaki's sermons. He claims to have trained in jihadist camps, and is a Facebook friend of Inspire, al Qaida's English-language magazine.
On Facebook, Smith says she "likes" Awlaki. Smith belongs to a Facebook group called Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, referring to a terrorist offshoot in North Africa and is Facebook friends with the Somali terror group al-Shabaab.
"These so-called 'jihadists' you have mentioned are actually personal friends of my husband from childhood. In the video he was expressing his love and gratitude to his friends, who have died fighting for freedom. Just like any other American or European citizen who displays pictures of soldiers who have died on their videos," Smith told Fox News. "It is just that your government has deemed these noble men as 'terrorists' because they are no longer on the same side."