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| Minneapolis: Somali-American returns from jihad, tail between legs |
| 2009-03-22 |
| A 22-year-old Somali man from Minneapolis believed to have been recruited by a terrorist group to travel to his war-torn homeland has returned to Minnesota, community leader Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said Saturday. He added that the recruit for jihad had a change of heart. Jamal wouldn't confirm the man's identity, saying that he and his family fear for their safety and are in hiding. Others identified him only as Kamal. Jamal also wouldn't say why the man went to Somalia or how he financed the trip, but said he apparently returned because "his expectation was not what he wanted when he went over there. ... I think he simply didn't like what he saw over there." Jamal said the man who returned to Minnesota had been recruited by a group called al-Shabab, an Al-Qaida off-shoot, and left Nov. 4 for Somalia, where he expected vocational training and study Vocational training? For what, dry land farming techniques with a concentration in Israeli-invented drip irrigation design? but encountered war and further indoctrination. "The mobilization of the jihad and what have you is different when they really go over there," Jamal said. Jamal said the man has met with FBI investigators but is not in jail. No, he and his family have gone into hiding. I'll bet the FBI knows exactly where. FBI special agent E.K. Wilson declined Saturday to comment about the development or the status of the travelers "because of the ongoing investigation," he said. Members of the Somali community were called to testify before Congress on March 11. Others have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Minneapolis. Farhan (Omar) Hurre, director of the Abubakar As-Saddique mosque in south Minneapolis, said Saturday that he knows of at least 10 people within the Somali community who received subpoenas in the past two months. While FBI director Mueller never said where Shirwa Ahmed was influenced, much of the focus has been on Twin Cities mosques, and Abubakar specifically. In late November, an imam and youth director from Abubakar were prohibited from boarding a flight to Saudi Arabia. At that time, an attorney representing the mosque, the largest in the Twin Cities, said they were put on a federal ''no fly'' list because they and the mosque were connected by rumor to the missing men. Sources close to the federal investigation have said that Ahmed, along with some of the other missing men, including Burhan Hassan and Mustafa Ali, 17, of St. Paul, spent time at or had ties to Abubakar. Hurre, the mosque director, has said that he did not know Shirwa Ahmed, but that others at the mosque knew him and were aware that he had spent time there. Hurre said that mosque officials are still hoping to meet with the FBI to talk about the investigation and learn how they can help. I'm sure they are. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 Jamal said the man has met with FBI investigators but is not in jail. tw: No, he and his family have gone into hiding. I'll bet the FBI knows exactly where. I'm sure dear Kamal _________ has been telling the FBI all sorts of interesting things about the al-Shabab jihadi pipeline, Besoeker, and what made him give up that romantic life. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-03-22 20:20 |
| #3 I'm sure the FBI already has his name and why was he alowed back into this country after going on 1 jihadi mission? |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-03-22 19:32 |
| #2 Jamal also wouldn't say why the man went to Somalia or how he financed the trip Public assistance checks? EBT card? Gov't research grant? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-03-22 18:55 |
| #1 "Somali-American"? Not in any way, shape, or form. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-03-22 18:46 |