Somalia spawns new jihadist threat

SYDNEY, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Police in Melbourne raided 20 locations Aug. 4 and arrested four men suspected of plotting a terrorist attack on Holsworth army base in New South Wales.
All four allegedly were linked to Al-Shebab ("The Boys") Islamist movement in Somalia, which is aligned with al-Qaida and is fighting to topple the shaky Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu, capital of the war-ravaged Horn of Africa failed state. At least one was a veteran of the fighting there.The terror threat spawned by the Somali conflict is spreading rapidly in the United States, Europe and Western outposts such as Australia. The fear is that young Somalis, the children of refugees fleeing the savagery that has consumed their homeland since 1991, who join Al-Shebab in Somalia will eventually return.Carrying the passports of their adopted countries, they will be able to slip under the security defenses to join the global network of jihadist cells that have sprung up in recent years. But whether or not the case proceeds, it underlines the extent of disenchantment among the Somali diaspora in Australia and fellow Muslims in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, and the terror threat they pose.Australia's security watchdogs are not the only ones concerned about how the Somali conflict alone is spawning a new generation of jihadist warriors who could one day turn on the governments that gave their families succor.In the United States, authorities have been concerned since Oct. 29, 2008, that the winds of war in Somalia were blowing their way. That was when a Somali college student from Minneapolis, Shirwa Ahmed, 27, and another from Britain, 21-year-old Ahmed Hussein Ahmed (no relation), were among several jihadists who carried out suicide bomb attacks in northern Somalia.The five coordinated attacks were the most sophisticated seen in Somalia to date.Shirwa Ahmed was the first U.S. citizen ever to carry out a suicide bombing. The FBI says he and others were radicalized and recruited in the U.S. cities where they lived. ..more..http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2009/08/18/Somalia-spawns-new-jihadist-threat/UPI-77891250616570/