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Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, pleaded guilty in federal court today to providing material support to terrorists, according to his attorney. Ahmed, a part-time security guard from Brooklyn Park, is accused of traveling to Somalia in December 2007, allegedly to train with al-Shabaab, an Islamic militant group that federal officials say has links to al-Qaida. Ahmed's attorney, James Ostgard, said late Monday night that his client will plead guilty to a single count -- providing material support to terrorists -- before U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum. In exchange for the guilty plea, Ostgard said three other counts will be dismissed at...

Somalis in U.S. draw FBI attention War at home seen as lure The FBI is expanding contacts with Somali immigrant communities in the U.S., especially in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, fearing that terrorists are recruiting young men for suicide missions in their homeland. FBI Special Agent E.K. Wilson, spokesman for the Twin Cities FBI field office, described the effort as community outreach. Many members of the Somali community are concerned over disappearances, he said.

Attorneys for a Minnesota man accused of going to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants are expected to submit a plea agreement ahead of a Tuesday hearing in the case, according to court documents filed Monday. A federal grand jury indicted Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, on charges of providing material support to terrorists, lying to the FBI, and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim and injure. The indictment was handed up in February but kept under seal until this month, when Ahmed was arrested. The documents filed Monday call for attorneys to submit a plea agreement ahead of a Tuesday afternoon...

Pajamas Media | Friday, December 12, 2008 The funeral for Shirwa Ahmed last week in Burnsville, Minnesota, punctuated a growing national security threat metastasizing inside the U.S. — one Homeland Security and law enforcement authorities have quickly taken note of. Ahmed, who killed himself in a suicide bombing attack in Somalia in October, is just one of up to 40 men from the Twin Cities area who have disappeared and are feared to have returned to their homeland for training with the al-Shabaab terrorist group to wage jihad. The FBI is investigating similar disappearances in other major Somali communities in...

A federal grand jury has indicted a Brooklyn Park man of Somali descent on charges of conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization and conspiracy to "kill, kidnap, maim or injure." Salah Osman Amed made his first appearance in federal court in Minneapolis this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Susan Richard Nelson. While the indictment against Amed was unsealed, it was not immediately available after the hearing to provide details. SNIP After the hearing federal officials would not comment whether Amed's case was connected to the investigation into the disappearance of up to 20 local men of Somali descent. It is believed...