Posted on 12/12/2008 3:57:22 AM PST by Cindy
Nam Vet
After collecting links, reading web sites, watching videos and posting on the global jihad since 9/11; I appreciate your idea and endorse it.
Previously...
Blog - Threat Matrix at LongWarJournal.org
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2009/09/somali_al_qaeda_leaders_captur.php
“Somali al Qaeda leaders captured in last week’s raid?”
By DANIELE RAINERI
September 22, 2009 4:22 PM
PHOTO CAPTION:Abu Mansur al Amriki (standing, background) at the Abu Suleim camp in Somalia.”
SNIPPET: “Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera has some interesting news on the covert raid conducted by US Special Forces, dubbed Celestial Balance, that targeted an al Qaeda leader in Southern Somalia on Sept. 14th. According to a local stringer for the newspaper, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan was not killed but captured alive. Along with Nabhan, American commandos apprehended Abu Mansur al Amriki, the American convert to Islam who has become a commander in charge of military training for Shabaab.
Amriki can be seen in Shabaab’s latest propaganda videotape, released on Sunday, leading the training of Shabaab fighters at the Abu Suleim camp.”
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www.youtube.com/user/umomuhammad
Video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzuFjgqcY10
Article:
http://www.longwarjournal.org/videos/2009/09/shabaab_training_camps_and_mil.php
“Shabaab training camps and military movements”
By BILL ROGGIO
September 22, 2009 3:32 PM
http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/
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ADDING to post no. 93:
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2009/09/shabaab_claims_american_was_on.php
“Shabaab claims American was one of last week’s suicide bombers”
By DANIELE RAINERISeptember 24, 2009 10:01 PM
SNIPPET: “A website affiliated with Shabaab celebrated a Somali-American from Seattle as one of the suicide bombers who conducted a complex assault against the African Union peacekeeper base in Mogadishu last week.
The suicide bombers easily entered the AMISOM military compound while driving two white vehicles with United Nations markings. “We thought they were real UN cars carrying white people,” a witness told Reuters. The drivers of the car “spoke English and identified themselves as being from the United Nations,” Somalia’s information minister said.”
SNIPPET: “The deputy military commander for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was among the 21 people killed.
The bomber – in his 20s – had lived in the United States until as recently as 2007. He’s the seventh American thought to have been killed while fighting with Shabaab in Somalia.”
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Previously...
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/09/shabaab_suicide_atta.php
“Shabaab suicide attack kills 9, including senior African Union commander”
By BILL ROGGIO
September 17, 2009 3:29 PM
SNIPPET; “Shabaab suicide bombers conducted a coordinated assault against an African Union peacekeeper base in Mogadishu. The deputy military commander for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was among the nine people killed in the attack.
The suicide bombers entered the AMISOM military compound in Mogadishu driving two white vehicles with United Nations markings, Reuters reported. The two UN-marked vehicles, which were looted from a compound in Baidoa, were followed by two truckloads of Somali troops.
“We thought they were real UN cars carrying white people, but moments later deafening thunder shook the ground,” a witness at the compound told Reuters. “The area was covered with flames and clouds of smoke.”
The drivers of the car “spoke English and identified themselves as being from the United Nations,” Somalia’s information minister said.
Shabaab had good intelligence on when and how to launch the attack. The attack took place as AMISOM commanders were meeting with senior Somalia officials at the compound, and the attackers entered the compound with ease.”
www.nefafoundation.org/multimedia-prop.html#abu_suleim_fighting
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2009/09/nefa_foundation_video_the_batt.php
“(NEFA Foundation) Video: “The Battle for Control of Somalia: Shabaab al-Mujahideen on the Frontline””
By Evan Kohlmann
(September 25, 2009)
FYI:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/globaljihad/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alshabaab/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/shabaab/index
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http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/killingchristians/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/christianpersecution/index
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Note: Photo included
Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2351871/posts
MUSLIMS NOW HUNTING CHRISTIANS IN AFRICA
The Last Crusade ^ | 30 September, 2009 | The Last Crusade
Posted on September 30, 2009 1:30:30 PM PDT by Psion
Forget Lions and Tigers
The Latest in Big Game
thelastcrusade.org
Somalia (MNN) - Somalia’s Muslim militants are hunting down converts to Christianity. According to Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Al-Shabaab members have murdered 14 believers since July 15.
Compass Direct News reports the September 15 shooting death of 69-year-old Omar Khalafe, an underground Christian who had Bibles in his possession.
On the day of his death, Khalafe was carrying 25 Somali Bibles he hoped to deliver to an underground fellowship in Somalia. At a checkpoint controlled by al Shabaab—a rebel group linked with al Qaeda which has taken over large parts of the war-torn country—bus passengers were ordered to disembark for inspection.
Voice of the Martyrs Canada and Compass Direct reports agree on the events following the discovery of the Bibles.
The assailants used photos they found to determine if they could match the faces to any passengers. When they noticed a resemblance to Khalafe, they asked if the Bibles were his. The radicals shot and killed him when he did not respond.
Militants then displayed his body in Merca along with the Bibles as a warning to others. Later that day, a militant reported Khalafe’s death on a radio program.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelastcrusade.org ...
“FBI Director: Al Qaeda-Linked Somali Group Could Attack U.S.”
SNIPPET: “For the first time, the FBI director has stated on the record that the Al Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab is no longer content to strike within the East African nation of Somalia.”
By Catherine Herridge
FOXNews.com
Friday, October 02, 2009
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ON THE INTERNET:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2351963/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2155483/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2147450/posts
:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alshabaab/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/shabaab/index
Fyi:
ON THE INTERNET:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/globaljihad/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alshabaab/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/shabaab/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/killingchristians/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/christianpersecution/index
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Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2354174/posts
Islamic Extremists in Somalia Kill Another Church Leader
Compass Direct News ^ | October 01 2009
Posted on October 3, 2009 9:34:42 AM PDT by knighthawk
Bantu woman shot after wife of militant confirmed she had Bibles.
NAIROBI, Kenya, October 1 (CDN) — Islamic militants in Somalia this week killed a woman who led an underground Christian movement in the war-torn country.
Sources told Compass that a leader of Islamic extremist al Shabaab militia in Lower Juba identified only as Sheikh Arbow shot to death 46-year-old Mariam Muhina Hussein at 2 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 28) in Marerey village after discovering she had six Bibles. Marerey is eight kilometers (five miles) from Jilib, part of the neighboring Middle Juba region.
Local sources said that on Sunday (Sept. 27) Arbow sent his wife to the house of Hussein, a Somali Bantu, to confirm the presence of the Bibles. Pretending to be interested in Christianity, the militia leader’s wife confirmed the existence of the Bibles.
The sources said Hussein readily agreed to discuss Christianity with Arbow’s wife and read parts of the Bible with her. When Arbow’s wife requested one of the Bibles, however, Hussein demurred.
“She told her that it might not be safe for her, preferring instead that she could visit her regularly for discussions,” said one source. “She then left and promised to visit again soon.”
The next day, Arbow arrived at Hussein’s house with other men and, in a friendly manner, claimed that he wanted to check something in the Bible. Knowing only that Arbow was a fellow ethnic Somali Bantu and having met his wife the previous day, Hussein innocently gave one to him, sources said.
“Immediately, Arbow told her that their mission was to look for Christians who have defiled the Islamic religion,” a source said. “There and then she lacked words to say. She was ordered to get the other Bibles out, and she did.”
Upon receiving the Bibles, sources said, Arbow fired three bullets at Hussein, who died instantly.
The Bibles were published in Swahili; besides this East African lingua franca, Bantus in Lower Juba also speak Kiswahili.
Compass has confirmed the killing with various sources in Nairobi and Somalia who cannot be identified for security reasons.
Hussein’s death comes a few weeks after the rebel militants killed another one of the leaders of Somalia’s Christian movement for distributing Bibles. Al shabaab militants shot 69-year-old Omar Khalafe on Sept. 15 at a checkpoint they controlled 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Merca, a Christian source told Compass.
Al Shabaab, said to have links with al Qaeda terrorists, controls much of southern parts of Somalia, as well as other areas of the nation. Besides striving to topple President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu, the militants also seek to impose sharia (Islamic law).
In August al Shabaab extremists seeking evidence that a Somali man had converted from Islam to Christianity shot him dead near the Somali border with Kenya, sources said. The rebels killed 41-year-old Ahmed Matan in Bulahawa, Somalia on Aug. 18.
In Mahadday Weyne, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, al Shabaab Islamists on July 20 shot to death another convert from Islam, Mohammed Sheikh Abdiraman, at 7 a.m., eyewitnesses told Compass. The militants also reportedly beheaded seven Christians on July 10. Reuters reported that they were killed in Baidoa for being Christians and “spies.”
On Feb. 21 al shabaab militants beheaded two young boys in Somalia because their Christian father refused to divulge information about a church leader, according to Musa Mohammed Yusuf, the 55-year-old father who was living in a Kenya refugee camp when he spoke with Compass.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLC594836
“Kenyan police arrest American heading for Somalia”
NAIROBI, Oct 12 (Reuters) -
SNIPPET: “A witness told Reuters that the man was arrested on Sunday by police manning the immigration office at the border town of Liboi in Kenya’s North Eastern province. He was on his way to Qoqani in southern Somalia without any security escort.”
SNIPPET: “Police thought the man’s willingness to enter the conflict-torn nation where foreigners are routinely kidnapped for huge ransoms was puzzling, the witness added. The area he wanted to go to is controlled by the al Shabaab rebel group which the United States says is al Qaeda’s proxy in Somalia.
The U.S. national had said he was a Muslim and denied any connection to Islamic radicals who make up the bulk of the insurgency in Somalia, said the witness.”
http://www.meforum.org/2486/somalia-al-shabaab-strategic-challenge
FALL 2009 • VOLUME XVI: NUMBER 4
“The Strategic Challenge of Somalia’s Al-Shabaab
Dimensions of Jihad”
by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2009, pp. 25-36
SNIPPET: “Al-Shabaab’s Strategic Outlook
Today, Al-Shabaab is a capable fighting force that implements a strict version of Shari’a in key areas of Somalia. Its range is enhanced by training camps from which many Western Muslims have graduated. This has made Al-Shabaab a significant security concern to several countries, including the United States.
Terrorist training. Given the relationship noted above between Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda, which includes ideological affinity and interlocking leadership, there are worries about Al-Shabaab’s connections to transnational terrorism. These concerns are bolstered by Al-Shabaab’s operation of terrorist training camps, successors to the ICU camps.
One of the clearest signs that training camps have reopened in Somalia is an exodus of young Somali men from Minneapolis-St. Paul and elsewhere in the United States.[72] There are further reports of young Somali men going missing from Canada, Europe, Australia, and Saudi Arabia.[73] A senior U.S. military intelligence officer reports that simultaneous disappearances in several countries are best explained by the reopening of Somali training facilities such as those in Ras Kamboni.[74]
The biggest concern is not what these individuals do while in Somalia but what happens when they return to the countries from which they came. It is a concern not only for the United States but also Britain: The Times of London reports that the British security services believe that “[d]ozens of Islamic extremists have returned to Britain from terror training camps in Somalia.”[75] British intelligence analysts are concerned about possible terror attacks in the U.K., and British television has reported that an October 2007 suicide bombing in Somalia was thought to have been carried out by a U.K.-raised bomber.[76] Peter Neumann of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King’s College, London, told Channel 4 News: “The numbers I hear (going from Britain to Somalia) are 50, 60 or 70, but in reality we don’t know. You don’t need big numbers for terrorism.”[77]
Al-Shabaab’s training is both military and ideological.”
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/images/stories/Al-Shabaabs_Recruiting_Efforts_in_the_West.pdf
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2378972/posts
“CTR Vantage: Al Shabaab’s Recruiting Efforts in the West”
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org ^ | November 4, 2009 09:16 PM | By Madeleine Gruen
Posted on November 5, 2009 1:09:20 AM PST by Cindy
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2009/11/arrest_in_netherlands_may_yiel.php
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http://www.startribune.com/local/69713097.html
“Alleged Somali recruiter arrested, linked to Minnesota”
SNIPPET: “A 43-year-old Somali man from Minneapolis was arrested this week in the Netherlands for allegedly financing the recruitment of up to 20 young Somali men from Minnesota to train and fight with terrorists in their homeland.”
By JAMES WALSH and RICHARD MERYHEW, Star Tribune
Last update: November 11, 2009 - 5:45 AM
SNIPPET: “Dutch prosecutors said in a statement that the man lived in Minneapolis before leaving the United States in November 2008 and arrived in the Netherlands about one month later.
The statement said American authorities asked for the man’s arrest and are seeking to have him extradited. Wilson said he could not confirm or deny that.
According to the Dutch statement, U.S. prosecutors suspect the man of bankrolling the purchase of weapons for Islamic extremists and helping other Somalis travel to Somalia in 2007 and 2008.”
http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/
http://www.shabelle.net
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alshabaab/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alshabab/index
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quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388064/posts
Officials worried group in Canada went to join Islamic radicals in Somalia
NATIONAL POST.com ^ | Published: Monday, November 16, 2009 | Stewart Bell, National Post
Posted on November 17, 2009 3:21:55 AM PST by Cindy
SNIPPET: “Counterterrorism officials are investigating a group of youths who allegedly left Canada for East Africa two weeks ago, amid concerns they may have gone to join the Somali militant group Al-Shabab.
Two sources familiar with the case said investigators had been canvassing Toronto’s large Somali-Canadian community for information about as many as five men who departed Canada together in early November.
They are believed to have flown to Kenya, the sources said. Kenya borders the region of southern Somalia controlled by Al-Shabab, an Islamist militia aligned with al-Qaeda and sometimes likened to the Taliban.”
SNIPPET: “”Radicalization within the U.S. Somali community may be an indicator of similar processes at work in Canada,” Commissioner William Elliott said in his Oct. 30 address to the Canadian Association of Security and Intelligence Studies in Ottawa.”
SNIPPET: “A handful of Canadians have fought with armed Somali groups in recent years, including Abdullah Ali Afrah, a former Toronto businessman who was killed last year while leading an ambush against Ethiopian troops.
The directors of the Khalid Mosque, one of the most popular places of worship for Somali-Canadians in Toronto, said in a statement to the National Post in September they had no knowledge of any youths who had traveled to Somalia to fight.”
SNIPPET: “Al-Shabab has become a priority in Washington since the families of several Minnesota youths came forward to complain that their young relatives were being radicalized and recruited into Al-Shabab.
At least two Americans have already died in Somalia. Shirwa Ahmed, a 27-year-old Minneapolis college student, became the first known U.S. citizen to carry out a suicide bombing when he blew himself up in Somalia last year, killing 30 people. Another American youth was allegedly shot dead as he was preparing to return to the United States.”
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2230011
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
Note: Posted here as a notation and for archival purposes.
Suggestion: Maybe the FBI can ask the jihadis returning to America from Somalia about the murders of these Christians.
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ON THE INTERNET:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alshabaab/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alshabab/index
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Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388608/posts
Islamic Extremists Kill Somali Church Leader
ASSIST NEWS SERVICE ^ | Monday, November 16, 2009 | Jeremy Reynalds
Posted on November 17, 2009 4:30:25 PM PST by Cindy
Monday, November 16, 2009
Islamic Extremists Kill Somali Church Leader Thirteenth Christian Assassinated This Year
By Jeremy Reynalds Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) — A human rights group has learned that members of al-Shabab (a Somali Islamic extremist group) have killed yet another leader of an underground church in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu.
Washington-based International Christian Concern (ICC), reported that on Oct. 10, Pastor Ali Hussein Weheliye was returning home from a worship service when two masked members of al-Shabab ambushed and shot him. He was later taken to Darful Shifa Hospital where he died of bullet wounds on Oct. 20.
According to ICC, Ali converted from Islam to Christianity in 1999 while working in Somalia’s capital as a linguist. In 2002, he started pastoring an underground house church. He is survived by his wife and a daughter who are now in hiding fearing for their lives.
ICC reported that Al-Shabab has previously declared Somalia as an Islamic state, vowing to eradicate Christians. Just this year, the group has killed a dozen Somali Christians. Several Christians have also left the country due to the intense persecution. Despite the killings by al-Shabab, the Somali church is growing rapidly.
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said in a news release, “The underground church in Somalia is enduring untold suffering. Al-Shabab and other Islamic extremist groups are hunting down and killing Christians. By killing Christians, the Islamic extremists have repeatedly demonstrated utter disregard to human life and freedom of religion.”
ICC asked that readers pray the Lord would comfort and strengthen Ali’s wife and daughter. In addition, ICC requested prayer for courage and wisdom for the underground churches in Somalia.
ICC exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. For more information, go to www.persecution.org.
Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico’s largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master’s degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is “Now You See Me.”
Additional details on some of Reynalds’ previous books are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 400-7145.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.justice.gov/usao/mn/major/major0458.pdf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 19, 2009
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MN
Minneapolis man indicted for providing support
to Somali terrorists
A federal indictment against Omer Abdi Mohamed, age 24, was unsealed today, following
the Minneapolis man’s arrest and initial appearance in court. The indictment, returned by a
federal grand jury on Tuesday of this week, charges Mohamed, also known as “Brother Omer”
and “Galeyr,” with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and related charges.
Specifically, the indictment alleges that from September of 2007 to the present, Mohamed
conspired with others known and unknown to the grand jury to provide material support and
resources, namely, financial support and personnel, knowing and intending that they were to be
used in preparation for and in carrying out a violation of 18 U.S.C. 956(a)(1), which is
conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure persons in a foreign country. Furthermore, Mohamed
allegedly provided that support during that time period. The indictment also details overt acts in
furtherance of the conspiracy. Those acts include the travel of numerous men from Minneapolis
to Somalia. The men included, among others, Kamal Said Hassan, Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, and
Salah Osman Ahmed.
If convicted, Omer Abdi Mohamed faces a potential maximum penalty of 15 years in prison
on count one, 15 years in prison on count two, and life in prison on count three. All sentences are
determined by a federal district court judge. This case is the result of an investigation by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney W.
Anders Folk and U.S. Department of Justice, CounterTerrorism Section Attorney William Narus.
–30–
An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been
committed by a defendant. A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven
guilty at trial.
NOTE: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390322/posts
Minneapolis Somali man indicted for supporting terrorists
StarTribune ^ | 11/19/09 | James Walsh
Posted on November 19, 2009 4:30:50 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
A 24-year-old local Somali man was indicted this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on charges of conspiring to provide support to terrorists.
Omer Abdi Mohamed, an unemployed employment counselor and father of a two-month-old boy, also was indicted on charges of conspiracy to “kill, kidnap, maim or injure” people in foreign countries.
Mohamed, of Minneapolis, is the sixth Somali man with local ties to be charged in connection with a two-year-old federal counterrorism investigation aimed at finding out who recruited up to 20 local men of Somali descent to return to their homeland and train and fight with the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab. The probe is considered to be one of the most widesweeping counterterrorism investigations since 9/11.
Mohamed appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel, who agreed to release Mohamed on a $25,000 signature bond after Mohamed’s attorney, Peter Wold, argued that his client was not a risk to flee.
Wold said his client has known for months that he was the subject of a government investigation. He also said that as a young father, Mohamed has no incentive to run.
His next court appearance is scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 24.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
November 23, 2009
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/mp112309.htm
Terror Charges Unsealed in Minnesota Against Eight Defendants, Justice Department Announces
The Justice Department announced that terrorism charges have been unsealed today in the District of Minnesota against eight defendants. According to the charging documents, the offenses include providing financial support to those who traveled to Somalia to fight on behalf of al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization; attending terrorist training camps operated by al-Shabaab; and fighting on behalf of al-Shabaab.
Thus far, 14 defendants have been charged in the District of Minnesota in indictments or criminal complaints that have been unsealed and brought in connection with an ongoing investigation into the recruitment of persons from U.S. communities to train with or fight on behalf of extremist groups in Somalia. Four of these defendants have previously pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
The charges were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; B Todd Jones, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minneapolis; and Ralph S. Boelter, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“The recruitment of young people from Minneapolis and other U.S. communities to fight for extremists in Somalia has been the focus of intense investigation for many months,” Assistant Attorney General Kris said. “While the charges unsealed today underscore our progress to date, this investigation is ongoing. Those who sign up to fight or recruit for al-Shabaab’s terror network should be aware that they may will end up as defendants in the United States or casualties of the Somali conflict.”
Background
According to court documents, between September 2007 and October 2009, approximately 20 young men, all but one of Somali descent, left the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area and traveled to Somalia, where they trained with al-Shabaab, a designated terrorist organization. Many of them ultimately fought with al-Shabaab against Ethiopian forces, African Union troops, and the internationally-supported Transitional Federal Government (“TFG”).
Court documents also state that the first group of six men traveled to Somalia in December 2007. Prior to their departure, the six men, as well as others in the Minneapolis area, raised money for the trips and held meetings in which they made phone calls to alleged co-conspirators in Somalia.
Upon arriving in Somalia, the men from Minneapolis allegedly stayed at safe-houses in Somalia and attended an al-Shabaab training camp. The al-Shabaab training camp included dozens of other young ethnic Somalis from Somalia, elsewhere in Africa, Europe, and the United States. Purportedly, the trainees were trained by, among others, Somali, Arab, and Western instructors as to small arms, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and military-style tactics. Allegedly, the trainees also were indoctrinated with anti-Ethiopian, anti-American, anti-Isreali, and anti-Western beliefs. Two men from Minneapolis who completed the training camp later participated in an ambush of Ethiopian troops.
According to court documents, on October 29, 2008, Shirwa Ahmed, one of the men who left Minnesota in December 2007 and attended the al-Shabaab training camp, took part in one of five simultaneous suicide attacks on targets in northern Somalia. The attacks appeared to have been coordinated. Shirwa Mohamud Ahmed, also known as “Shirwa,” drove an explosive-laden Toyota truck into an office of the Puntland Intelligence Service in Bossasso, Puntland. Other targets included a second Puntland Intelligence Service Office in Bossasso, the Presidential Palace, the United Nations Development Program office, and the Ethiopian Trade Mission in Hargeisa. Including the suicide bombers, approximately twenty people were killed in the attacks.
Today in Minnesota, United States Attorney B. Todd Jones said of these cases, “The sad reality is that the vibrant Somali community here in Minneapolis has lost many of its sons to fighting in Somalia. These young men have been recruited to fight in a foreign war by individuals and groups using violence against government troops and civilians. Those tempted to fight on behalf of or provide support to any designated terrorist group should know they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Joining U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones was Ralph S. Boelter, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who added, “It is through the sustained and dedicated efforts of the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force and the support of the Somali-American community that today we are able to disclose some of the siginificant progress we have achieved in this critical investigation. At the same time, I emphasize the sole focus of our efforts in this matter has been the criminal conduct of a small number of mainly Somali-American individuals and not the broader Somali-American community itself, which as consistently expressed deep concern about this pattern of recruitment activity in support of al-Shabaab.”
Charging Documents Unsealed
The Justice Department announced that three charging documents were unsealed this morning in the District of Minnesota:
United States v. Mahamud Said Omar, 09-CR-242
On August 20, 2009, a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment charging Mahamud Said Omar with terrorism offenses. According to the indictment, from September 2007 through the present, Omar, who is a Somali citizen but was granted permanent U.S. resident status in 1994, conspired with others to provide financial assistance as well as personnel to terrorists and foreign terrorist organizations. On November 8, 2009, law enforcement authorities in the Netherlands arrested Omar pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant. The United States has filed its request for extradition. According to documents unsealed this morning, including affidavits in support of the United States’ request for extradition of Omar from the Netherlands, Omar provided money to young men to travel from Minneapolis to Somalia to train with and fight for al-Shabaab. Omar also allegedly visited an al-Shabaab safe-house and provided hundreds of dollars to fund the purchase of AK-47 rifles for men from Minneapolis.
Omar currently is in custody in the Netherlands.
United States v. Ahmed Ali Omar, Khalid Abshir, Zakaria Maruf, Mohamed Hassan and Mustafa Salat , 09-CR-50
On August 20, 2009, a federal grand jury returned a second superseding indictment charging Ahmed Ali Omar, Khalid Abshir, Zakaria Maruf, Mohamed Hassan, and Mustafa Salat with terrorism-related offenses. These men were charged in the summer of 2009 with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and foreign terrorist organizations; conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, and injure people outside the United States; possessing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence; and solicitation to commit a crime of violence. The indictments that detail the charges filed against these co-conspirators also were unsealed today.
None of the five defendants is in custody. All five are believed to be outside of the United States.
United States v. Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax United States v. Abdiweli Yassin Isse
On October 9, 2009, a criminal complaint was filed, charging Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax and Abdiweli Yassin Isse with conspiring to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure persons outside the United States. The affidavit filed in support of the complaint states that in the fall of 2007, Faarax and others met at a Minneapolis mosque to telephone co-conspirators in Somalia to discuss the need for Minnesota-based co-conspirators to go to Somalia to fight the Ethiopians. The affidavit also alleges that later that fall, Faarax attended a meeting with co-conspirators at a Minneapolis residence, where he encouraged others to travel to Somalia to fight and told them how he had experienced true brotherhood while fighting a “jihad” in Somalia. Subsequently, Faarax was interviewed three times by authorities and each time denied fighting or knowing anyone who had fought in Somalia.
The criminal complaint states that Abdiweli Yassin Isse also encouraged others to travel to Somalia to fight the Ethiopians. He purportedly described at a gathering of co-conspirators his own plans to fight “jihad” against Ethiopians, and he raised money to buy airplane tickets for others to make the trip to Somalia for the same purpose. In raising that money, he allegedly misled community members into thinking they were contributing money to send young men to Saudi Arabia to study the Koran. The complaint that details the charges filed against these co-conspirators also was unsealed today.
Faarax and Isse are not in custody. Both men are believed to be outside of the United States.
Guilty Pleas
The Justice Department also announced that four residents of Minneapolis have entered guilty pleas in connection with this investigation, one resident of Minneapolis awaits trial on charges that he made false statements to the FBI, and one resident of Minneapolis was just recently indicted on related charges.
United States v. Kamal Hassan, 09-CR-38
On February 19, 2009, Kamal Said Hassan pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A, and one count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, respectively. On August 12, 2009, Hassan pled guilty to one count of making false statements to the FBI.
Hassan currently is in custody awaiting sentencing.
United States v. Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, 09-CR-50 United States v. Salah Osman Ahmed, 09-CR-50
On April 24, 2009, Abdifatah Yusuf Isse entered a guilty plea to one count of providing material support to terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A. On July 28, 2009, Salah Osman Ahmed entered a guilty plea to one count of providing material support to terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A.
Isse and Ahmed currently are in custody awaiting sentencing.
United States v. Adarus Abdulle Ali
On November 2, 2009, Adarus Abdulle Ali pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of perjury for making false statements to a federal grand jury in December of 2008, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623.
Ali has been released pending a sentencing hearing.
Additional Pending Cases
United States v. Abdow Munye Abdow
On October 13, 2009, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Abdow Munye Abdow with making false statements to the FBI, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). The indictment alleges that on October 8, 2009, Abdow lied to FBI agents when he was questioned after being stopped during a road trip from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. Abdow purportedly told the agents only one other person was traveling with him when, according to officials, four people were accompanying him. In addition, Adbow allegedly told the agents he did not know how the rental car in which he was riding had been financed when, according to officials, he had used his own debit card to pay for the car.
Abdow has been released pending trial.
United States v. Omer Abdi Mohamed
On November 19, 2009, Omer Abdi Mohamed was arrested on charges that he conspired to provide material support to terrorists; that he provided material support to terrorists; and that he conspired to kill, kidnap, main, and injure persons outside the United States.
Mohamed was released on bond pending further proceedings.
Participants
The investigation into the recruitment of young men to join al-Shabaab and those supporting that recruiting effort has been conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance and cooperation of the Dutch KLPD; the Dutch Ministry of Justice; Judith Friedman at the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs; the U.S. Department of State; the embassies at Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sanaa, Yemen; and The Hague in the Netherlands; and the Department of Defense. The case is being prosecuted by W. Anders Folk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, and William M. Narus, from the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section, with assistance having been provided by David Bitkower, formerly of the Counterterrorism Section and currently an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York.
NATIONAL POST.com - Full Comment - blog:
“Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: Western terrorism recruits in Somalia”
Posted: November 25, 2009, 8:30 AM by NP Editor
terrorism, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
SNIPPET: “On Monday, the United States unsealed terrorism charges against eight defendants for supporting a Somali Islamist group called al-Shabaab. While few lay people in Canada or the United States have heard of al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-connected extremist organization — which controls a significant amount of territory in Somalia — has recently become a particular concern for analysts examining possible homegrown terrorist flashpoints in North America.
Beginning in late 2007, dozens of young men of Somali descent started disappearing from diaspora communities in the West. It turned out they were returning to Somalia to train in Shabaab camps or to take up arms against Shabaab’s enemies within the country. Islamists of non-Somali descent were also travelling there to join Shabaab.
This phenomenon has been repeating itself in a number of countries.”
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/December/09-ag-1369.html
Note: The following text is a quote:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASES
Sunday, December 20, 2009
United States Transfers 12 Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland Region
Twelve detainees have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region.
As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009 Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of each of these cases. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including potential threat, mitigation measures and the likelihood of success in habeas litigation, the detainees were approved for transfer. In accordance with Congressionally-mandated reporting requirements, the Administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer the detainees at least 15 days before their transfer.
Over the weekend, four Afghan detainees, Abdul Hafiz, Sharifullah, Mohamed Rahim and Mohammed Hashim, were transferred to the Government of Afghanistan. In addition, two Somali detainees, Mohammed Soliman Barre and Ismael Arale, were transferred to regional authorities in Somaliland. Finally, six Yemeni detainees, Jamal Muhammad Alawi Mari, Farouq Ali Ahmed, Ayman Saeed Abdullah Batarfi, Muhammaed Yasir Ahmed Taher, Fayad Yahya Ahmed al Rami and Riyad Atiq Ali Abdu al Haf, were transferred to the Government of Yemen.
These transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and relevant foreign authorities to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures. Consultations with foreign authorities regarding these individuals will continue.
Since 2002, more than 560 detainees have departed Guantanamo Bay for other destinations, including Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Chad, Denmark, Egypt, France, Hungary Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Palau, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom and Yemen.
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