(CNSNews.com) - Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, an illegal alien from Jordan who was charged yesterday with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in Dallas, Texas, was imprisoned in Jordan in 2004 three years before he left that country for the United States in 2007, according to the Jordanian government.

“What we know is that he is a 19 year old. He was put in a correctional facility in 2004 in Jordan after being arrested for basically theft and street begging,” Merissa Khurma, the press attaché for the Jordanian embassy in Washington, D.C. told CNSNews.com.

“Our records also show that he left for the United States in 2007, but we do not know why he left,” said Khurma.

Smadi was born on June 5, 1990, according to an affidavit filed in his case by the FBI. That would have made him 13 or 14 years old when he was imprisoned in Jordan in 2004, and 16 or 17 when he left for the United States in 2007.

Khurma said she did not know the exact date when Smadi was arrested in Jordan, the name of the correctional facility in which he was held, or the date of his release from that correctional facility. She noted that the weekend begins on Friday in Jordan so it had been difficult to get additional information today.

A press release put out yesterday by James T. Jacks, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said that Smadi was an illegal alien.

“Smadi, a Jordanian citizen in the U.S. illegally, lived and worked in Italy, Texas, (approximately 45 miles south of Dallas),” said the release.

An affidavit in the case filed by Thomas D. Petrowski, FBI supervisory special agent in Dallas, said that Smadi had an Alien Registration Number issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  Spokesmen at DHS would not discuss Smadi’s case. However, DHS issues Alien Registration Numbers both to aliens who originally enter the U.S. legally and to aliens who originally enter the U.S. illegally and are later encountered by DHS.

State Department Spokesman Andy Laine told CNSNews.com that the State Department would not comment on whether or not Smadi was given a visa to enter the U.S. because visa records are confidential.

Richard Anderson, the federal public defender for the Northern District of Texas, whose office will represent Smadi said he “cannot confirm or deny” the assertions by the Jordanian government that Smadi was put in a correctional facility in that country in 2004 for theft and street begging and then left for the United States in 2007.
 
Anderson did say that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcment has put a “detainer” on Smadi.
 
“In other words, they are holding him for an immigration violation,” said Anderson. “He’s been held based upon the criminal charges that are against him, but he has a detainer placed upon him  by immigration, which means that if he were able to secure bond on the criminal charge—which he hasn’t, he’s waived the detention hearing—that he would then be transferred to immigration. He would not be released.”

Jordanian Press Attache Khurma said the Jordanian government would be working with the United States government on the case.
 
“Of course, the government is very concerned and is following up the issue very closely,” she said. “Jordan has been at the forefront of fighting terrorism and has, and will continue, to cooperate with the United States and other international partners on that front. We were victims of terror ourselves back in 2005 when three hotels were bombed killing more than 60 people, the majority of which were Muslim. So, this is definitely a concern for us.”

“We’re in this pretty much together,” said Khurma. “Our position on terrorism, on any terror plots, on any attempt to attack or kill innocent people, is very clear.  This is anathema to the basic tenets of Islam, which is based on peace, and tolerance and understanding. This is anathema.

“We have to work together on this particular case,” she said. “We are following it closely with U.S. authorities.”

Smadi was arrested in an FBI sting operation after attempting to detonate what was in fact a fake bomb at a 60-story office tower in Dallas.

According to the affidavit filed by FBI Supervisory Special Agent Petrowski, Smadi told FBI undercover officers that “he came to the United States with the purpose of committing ‘Jihad for the sake of God.’”