Israfel Mohamed Imbaeya

Israfel Mohamed Imbaeya was born on January 1, 1976, in Surman, Libya, and was arrested on October 13, 2009. His arrest was on charges of conspiracy with Game Mohamed and Kol Abdel Hady Abdelhaziz Mahmoud, involving the large-scale acquisition of chemical precursors used in explosive manufacturing. These chemicals were later transferred to an apartment provided by Kol Abdel, where various types of explosives were produced. One of these was subsequently transported to a public area by Game, who attempted an attack against the “Santa Barbara” Army Barracks in Milan.
On October 1, 2009, Israfel reportedly accompanied Game to a supplier, where they purchased
nitric acid, aluminum powder, hydrogen peroxide, and other substances. These items were then brought to Kol Abdel’s apartment by Game, to whom he had provided the keys. Game spent that
day initiating the production of explosives. In a statement, Game claimed, “The only thing I bought
with Mr. Israfel was nitric acid, and it wasn’t meant for… he didn’t know, let’s say, that it was for making explosives.” Based on this statement, the defense argued that Israfel’s assistance was
incidental. However, certain arguments led the court to conclude that this incidental contribution was provided knowingly. Israfel himself also stated he was unaware that these purchases would be used to produce explosives, believing instead they would be exported to Libya for use in the jewelry field to distinguish real gold from fake. Game reportedly confirmed this to the shop assistant.
However, this version was neither corroborated by the assistant nor supported by other evidence, leading the court to view it as a story the co-defendants agreed upon after the fact.
In support of the prosecution’s case, the court considered it implausible that Israfel would believe an
excuse of this nature, given his knowledge of Game’s increasingly radicalized views in recent
months. Indeed, Israfel admitted that “after Game’s heart attack, he began making statements
endorsing violence, saying that al-Qaeda was the only movement that fully practiced Islam.” Game
also reportedly invited Israfel to join him in jihad, though Israfel declined, citing his commitment to
his family as more important than his faith. According to the court, Israfel’s “caution” was not due to a lack of alignment with jihadist ideology but was, instead, motivated by his awareness that he was already on police watch as a terrorism suspect; he had been subjected to a search on July 3, 2009, which yielded no incriminating evidence.
In an interrogation, Israfel stated that Game had told him that “a bomb can be made because
everything is available on the internet, you just need to buy items from different shops.” Taking all these incidents into account, the court confirmed that Israfel was aware that the subsequent purchase of nitric acid was intended for Game’s explosive manufacturing and dismissed the explanation that it was for jewelry use as implausible. It was also considered unlikely that Game, having confided in his closest friend Israfel about his desire to carry out attacks and having involved him in the preparations, would suddenly decide to hide the location of the explosives from him, especially since they lived in the same building.
Based on the court’s assessment that Israfel was aware of Game’s intentions to manufacture
explosives for an attack, the defendant was sentenced to three years and six months of imprisonment.