Members of the Twin Cities' Somali community say they are being questioned by the FBI as it investigates whether some young men are being "radicalized" in Minnesota and recruited to fight with terrorist groups in their homeland. The immigrants are a success story in the Twin Cities, where the state's tradition of welcoming refugees has helped attract one of the nation's largest Somali populations. Why some would want to leave, especially to return to a lawless country, has confused many Somalis. "Like most of the community, I had difficulty believing that anybody would go to Somalia after their own families left because of wars," said Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed, a Minneapolis physician. "It stunned most of us, I think, when we heard a name of someone who went and died." The Senate's Homeland Security Committee plans a hearing today on possible terrorist recruitment in the United States. Witnesses from Minnesota are expected to testify. Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a socialist dictator and then turned on each other, causing anarchy in the African nation of 7 million. In 2006, Somalia's weak government called in Ethiopian troops — with U.N. support — to oust an Islamic group controlling Mogadishu and southern Somalia.
Many Somalis saw the troops as an invading and abusive force.
"The majority of Somalis here were opposed to the (Ethiopian) occupation," said Abdi Samatar, a University of Minnesota geography professor. "The Somali people did not ask for it, and the brutality was incredible. Anybody who's human-rights oriented and has a patriotic sentiment would be incredibly enraged." Then, in October, a Minneapolis man carried out a suicide bombing in Somalia. FBI Director Robert Mueller said last month that the bomber had probably been "radicalized" in the Twin Cities. Now, many Somalis say FBI agents have questioned them about recent travels abroad and asked which mosques they attended. Sharmarke Jama, a 26-year-old businessman, was questioned after traveling to Canada. He said the Ethiopian invasion was a topic of discussion among immigrants, so he was not surprised to hear that some young men might have gone to fight. But, he said, the suicide bombing was different: "It really shook the foundation of the community ... as soon as the suicide bombing came into the equation, it was a whole new ball game." The Oct. 29 bombing by Shirwa Ahmed was part of a series of coordinated attacks that targeted a U.N. compound, the Ethiopian consulate and the presidential palace in Hargeisa, capital of the Somaliland region. U.S. counterterrorism officials have raised concerns that an extremist group called al-Shabab is recruiting young men in Minnesota and elsewhere. It isn't clear if Ahmed was part of the group. Al-Shabab, meaning "The Youth," controls much of Somalia and wants to establish an Islamic state there. Many Somalis in the Twin Cities welcome the federal investigation, including Abdirizak Bihi, whose teenage nephew left Minneapolis in November and called his family days later saying he was in Somalia. The boy's whereabouts are unknown. "They did not decide to go back to the hell that their families fled from," Bihi said of the young men who left. "There must be some group that has been brainwashing them." Others have worried about a backlash. Mohamed, the physician, said some young Somalis have been questioned unfairly. He said his cousin was detained for hours at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport while being questioned about a January visit to Nairobi, Kenya, and which mosques he attended. "What is disturbing is the manner of the questions," Mohamed said. "Nobody would ask, 'Have you been to a church?' " An FBI spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday, but the FBI has said it increased efforts to reach out to community leaders in the Twin Cities area. Spokesman E.K. Wilson has said the agency wants Somalis to come forward with their concerns and any information. The families of some men who left suspect Minnesota's largest mosque, Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, of having a role in their loved ones' decision — something mosque officials have repeatedly denied. The mosque recently held an open house to try to address public concerns. Director Farhan Hurre said mosque officials have noticed FBI agents conducting surveillance outside the mosque. He also said the mosque has received a handful of angry phone calls since the young men left, including one in which the caller said: "You don't belong here. Go back to your country." Local Somalis say they are eager for authorities to finish their investigation. "The community feels vulnerable when there's a news item about it," said Saeed Fahia, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota...http://www.twincities.com/alllistings/ci_11883057?source=rss
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir
Sultan Kenadid
Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan
Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Designation of Al-Shabaab
SOMALI REPUBLICANS
About Us
The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.
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- Somali opposition leader quits ???Eritrea for Suda...
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- Britain's 'shameful' failure to respond to UN call...
- EU anti-piracy mission arrests seven Somali pirate...
- Somali talaban president Sharif Ahmed speech ,Ara...
- Sudan's fugitive president Omar al-Bashir picks u...
- Fighting kills at least 13 in Somali
- Relatives of missing Somali men use homeland ties ...
- Nationalism is from Venus, al-Qa’ida is from Mars
- Q & A with Somali Foreign Minister Muhammad Abdull...
- Watchdog says Kenya police abuse Somali refugees
- Somali govt forces 'kill six Al-Shabaab Terrorist
- Ugandan guards go to Afghanistan
- Just like us after all: Islamic supremacists in So...
- Uganda deploys more soldiers in Somalia despite Os...
- Russian ships sail off to fight Somali pirates,Som...
- Somalia's hard-line Terrorist invite aid groups?on...
- Somalia:Terrorist leader Sheik Hassan Daahir Awey...
- Gas tanker hijacked by Somali pirates released
- African Union to send more troops to Somalia
- Yemen's three terror fronts
- Looks Like al Qaeda in Somalia is Having a Bad Day
- Somali Terrorist release 5 Kenyans...kenya gover...
- Somali talaban president denounces al-Qaida.??“Tal...
- Jihad Next Door West Seattle
- Foreign jihadists join local fighters in lawless S...
- Somali talaban President Returns to Mogadishu Fri...
- Huge Explosion in Garowe..Blast kills an Ethiopian...
- FBI Searching for Missing Somali Men from Minnesota
- Three held over terror activities
- Discernment in Counter-Terrorism
- Arabization of Africa, and Its Killing Fields
- Ethiopia: US concerned about al-Qaeda on Somali bo...
- Lawless Somalia draws influx of foreign fighters
- Pakistan's ISI still linked to militants, U.S. says
- The dam that divides Ethiopians
- Somali-Canadian leader doubts ????youths targeted ...
- Somali militia warned of revenge attacks
- Somali pirates hijack 2 tankers in 24 hours..Tanke...
- Kidnappers demand ransom
- Somali talaban Interior Minister Injured in Roads...
- Somali militants to try captive Kenya officials.. ...
- Islamist Terrorist group disowns jehadistWarlord ...
- Propaganda .. Sudanese leader arrest warrant "a...
- Federal Official Says Canadian Youths Recruited By...
- Let's Make A Deal
- Rights violations worse in Somalia in 2008: UN
- Relative of missing Somali man speaks
- 5,000 Words on Somali Shabaab's Relationship to al...
- African Union beefs up Somali peacekeeping force
- Somali pirates attack yacht off Seychelles
- Al-Qaeda recruits young in Yemen
- Somalia: US policy shift towards Islamists after E...
- Terror Sympathizer Hawiye Elders oppose deployment...
- Al-Qaeda asks Sudanese to prepare for war
- Bashir in Eritrea, defying warrant
- Yemen plays great roles for maintaining stability ...
- hawiye-shabaab..Hisbul Islam ..aka-- hawiye-- sha...
- A mosque under fire
- Somalia ,,,.Who's Calling the Shots?:
- hawiye terrorist in fighting ..Islamists dismiss ...
- Somalia: Al-Qaeda’s Next Battleground
- Grand jury looks into missing Somali men
- 17 Filipino seamen abducted by pirates in Somalia ...
- Somalia: ‘New African peacekeepers secretly enter’...
- habar-gidir hawiye when are they going to Free ...
- hawiye-shabaab..Hisbul Islam Breaks into Two Facti...
- Sudanese war criminal president calls for support...
- Getting Away With Murder 2009..somali 3 journalist...
- Source: Missing Somali-American Spotted at Minneap...
- Somali suicide bomber from the heartland
- Shabaab leader admits links to al Qaeda
- Islamists threaten to halt FBI relations
- Somali militia Terrorist behead rival clerics
- U.S. Navy detains, releases six suspected pirates....
- Terrorist al-shabaab Welcome Osama Bin Laden message
- Eritrea working to destabilize peace process in Ho...
- Diversity on the New York runways! Somalian-beaut...
- Somali man's return to Minn. has locals buzzing
- SOMALIA: Jama Dhoodi Shirar, "It is as if we don't...
- Somali FM Says Peace and Security New talaban Gov...
- Security Council press statement ..Security Counci...
- New Terrorist bin-Laden Tape
- Somali FM urges lifting of UN arms embargo
- US homegrown Somali radicals back after terror mis...
- Somali pirates in cahoots with government,.Somali ...
- Somali Islamists behead two sheikhs
- sympatiser on Al-Jazeera "spin doctors".Two-Face g...
- Why I Keep Going Back to Somalia...sympathizer to ...
- mother and father.Brother of 13-year old Aisha Ibr...
- Yemen announces cash reward for tip-off on terrori...
- Source: 'Several' Missing Somali-Americans Back in...
- Greek ship seized by Somali pirates
- AU Condemns Attacks on Peacekeepers in Somalia
- UN cites reports of govt links to Somalia pirates
- Terror allegations rile Boston's Somali immigrants
- Terrorist Bin Laden rallies Somali militants in We...
- sympatiser on Al-Jazeera .."spin doctors"....Two-...
- Topple Somali talaban leader - Terrorist Bin Laden
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Al-Qaida in Somalia. ...
We Are Winning the War on Terrorism in Horn of Africa
The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.
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