Somalis Leaving U.S. for Jihad

September 30, 2010

NOTE The following text is a quote:

chicago.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/cg093010.htm

Chicago Man Indicted for Allegedly Attempting to Provide Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization

CHICAGO—A Chicago man who was arrested last month for allegedly planning to travel to Somalia and engage in fighting with a foreign terrorist organization, was indicted on the same charges by a federal grand jury, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI, announced today.

Shaker Masri, 27, who lived in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, was indicted on one count of attempting to provide material support to al Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and one count of attempting to provide material support by use of a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States. He will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court.

Masri was arrested on Aug. 3 by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism task Force (JTTF), just hours before he was scheduled to leave Chicago en route to Somalia. Since then, he was ordered detained in federal custody without bond.

According to a criminal complaint filed at the time his arrest, Masri, a U.S. citizen, began espousing increasingly violent views to an individual he befriended in early 2009, and later began to openly express a desire to participate in a “jihad” and to fight against what he characterized as “infidels.” During the weeks before his arrest, Masri began to actively plan a trip to Somalia, where he hoped to join the specially designated terrorist group al Shabaab and commit a suicide attack targeting “infidels,” the complaint alleged.

Both counts carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only allegations and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trail at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/372

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/June12/ahmed/ahmedmohammedibrahiminformation%20.pdf

http://www.investigativeproject.org/search.php?cx=007811315508120065319%3Avf7yhgtccei&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&sa=Search&q=Mohamed+Ibrahim+Ahmed

2010:

http://www.investigativeproject.org/1837/two-new-somali-linked-indictments-issued

For The Record - The IPT Blog

“Two New Somali-Linked Indictments Issued”
Mar 8, 2010 at 5:59 pm

SNIPPET: “An indictment was unsealed in New York Monday charging 35-year-old Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed with providing material support to the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab. The indictment also charged Ahmed with receiving military training from the group and two counts of conspiracy. Ahmed was arrested in Nigeria on Saturday and then brought to the U.S.

According to the indictment, Ahmed traveled to Al-Shabaab paramilitary camps in Somalia in April 2009 to receive jihad training, including training on bomb construction and detonation. It also alleges that Ahmed personally gave Al-Shabaab, a U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), $4,088 in February 2008. Ahmed will plead not guilty at a hearing Tuesday, says his lawyer Sabrina Shroff.

The government’s charges against Ahmed come shortly after last week’s indictment of a Somali citizen tied to different Al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist organization, Al-Ittihad Al-Islami (AIAI).”

2013:

NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2013/al-shabaab-operative-sentenced-in-manhattan-federal-court-to-111-months-in-prison-for-conspiring-to-support-and-receive-military-type-training-from-a-foreign-terrorist-organization

Al Shabaab Operative Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 111 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Support and Receive Military-Type Training from a Foreign Terrorist Organization

U.S. Attorney’s Office
March 27, 2013

Southern District of New York

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 111 months in prison for conspiring to provide material support to and to receive military-type training from al Shabaab, a terrorist organization based in Somalia. The U.S. Department of State has designated al Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed traveled thousands of miles to align himself with al Shabaab, to aid their campaign of terror, and to learn their ‘ways of war.’ Today, his journey ends in prison and marks the latest victory in our constant effort to protect Americans from terrorism at home and around the world.”

According to the Superseding information filed in Manhattan federal court, and prior court filings:

Al Shabaab has used violent means to destabilize the government of Somalia and to force the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. The group has recruited foreign fighters to join in its “holy war” in Somalia, resulting in men from other countries, including the United States, traveling there to engage in violent jihad. Al Shabaab has also made numerous public statements demonstrating its intent to harm the United States.

In early 2009, Ahmed left his home in Sweden and traveled to Somalia in order to support and receive military-type training from al Shabaab. While in Somalia, Ahmed contributed approximately 3,000 Euros to al Shabaab, received training and instruction with respect to bomb-making and bomb-detonation, and purchased an AK-47 rifle, additional magazines, and two grenades. Ahmed subsequently provided the rifle and magazines to an al Shabaab military commander.

* * *

In addition to the prison term, an order of judicial removal was signed, and Ahmed will be deported upon completion of the sentence. He was also ordered to pay a mandatory $200 special assessment.

Ahmed, 38, a native of Eritrea and a lawful resident of Sweden, was arrested in Nigeria in November 2009. On March 6, 2010, Ahmed was transferred to the custody of the United States and subsequently transported to the Southern District of New York for prosecution.

Ahmed pled guilty in June 2012 to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (al Shabaab) and one count of conspiracy to receive military-type training from a foreign terrorist organization (al Shabaab).

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force based in Manhattan—which principally consists of special agents of the FBI and detectives of the New York City Police Department. He also expressed gratitude to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, the Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Department of State for their extraordinary assistance in the case. Mr. Bharara also thanked the governments of Sweden and Nigeria for their assistance in this matter.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin Naftalis, John P. Cronan, and Rachel P. Kovner are in charge of the prosecution.

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