CHICAGO (AFP) - A group of Somali-American youth recruited to fight for an Islamist militia in Somalia were told it would be "fun," court documents have shown.Some 20 young men -- all but one of whom were of Somali descent -- have been recruited to leave their homes in Minnesota to join a bitter civil war an ocean away.One died while participating in a series of suicide bomb attacks in northern Somalia, officials said. Four other were also killed in the fighting, local media reports."The sad reality is that the vibrant Somali community here in Minneapolis has lost many of its sons to fighting in Somalia," US attorney Todd Jones said in a statement."These young men have been recruited to fight in a foreign war by individuals and groups using violence against government troops and civilians."Criminal charges have been filed against 14 men linked to the conspiracy to support terrorism and the investigation is "ongoing," the justice department said in a statement.All of those charged are from the Minneapolis area. Seven remain at large and are believed to be outside of the United States.Four of the men have pleaded guilty in the case and two others have been released pending trial, officials said.Mahamud Said Omar, who is accused of providing money to transport the youth to Somalia and buy them AK-47s, is currently being held in the Netherlands.Three of those who pleaded guilty are young men who admitted to traveling to Somalia to join the Al-Qaeda inspired Islamist group Shebab.They were among six youth who left Minneapolis in late 2007 to "fight the Ethiopians in Somalia," according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.The most recent group of recruits left in October 2009, officials said.One of the young men who pleaded guilty told investigators that the trainees at his camp"included dozens of other young ethnic Somalis from Somalia, elsewhere in Africa, Europe, and the United States."Two of the Minneapolis youth left after a week or two.The others were trained in the use of small arms and military-style tactics by Somali, Arab and Western instructors and were also "indoctrinated with anti-Ethiopian, anti-American, anti-Israeli and anti-Western beliefs," the charging document said.One of the young men admitted to taking part in an armed ambush of Ethiopian troops with the young man who died at the wheel of an explosive-laden truck.Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax, who remains at large, is accused of recruiting the young men in a series of meetings in homes, a local mosque and public places.He allegedly spoke of his experience fighting along the Somali-Kenyan border and explained that "he experienced true brotherhood while fighting in Somalia and that travel for jihad was the best thing that they could do," the complaint alleges.Faarax also "told the co-conspirators that traveling to Somalia to fight jihad will be fun and not to be afraid."Abdiweli Yassin Isse is accused of raising money to finance the trips to Somalia by telling community members that he was raising money to send young men to study the Koran in Saudi Arabia.Both men are believed to be outside of the United States.US officials expressed gratitude to the Somali-American community for helping with the investigation."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 has consistently expressed deep concern about this pattern of recruitment activity in support of al-Shebab," said Ralph Boelter, who heads the Minneapolis field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.ht
tp://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/091124/world/us_attacks_somalia_youth_court_1Feds unseal new terror charges in long-running probe of men who left US to fight in Somalia
Promising both "true brotherhood" and "fun," several Somali men convinced fellow immigrants in Minneapolis to return to their East African homeland and take up arms with a terrorist group, according to federal charges unsealed Monday against eight individuals, The charges are part of an unfolding federal investigation into the disappearance of as many as 20 young Somali men from Minneapolis over the last two years _ most of them U.S. citizens who federal authorities say are guilty of terrorism. Federal prosecutors say most of the men traveled to Somalia to join the terror group al-Shabab, which the U.S. State Department says has links to al-Qaeda.
Ralph S. Boelter, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis field office, called the latest round of indictments a "tipping point" in the more than yearlong investigation. "We have reached momentum, and reached a point where we will have full resolution of this case," Boelter said at a news conference with Minnesota's U.S. Attorney, B. Todd Jones.
Fourteen people have been charged in the investigation. The eight charged Monday are accused of a mix of recruiting and raising funds for the trips, and of engaging in terrorist acts in civil war-torn Somalia. Indictments say some attended terrorist training camps where they received instruction in firing small arms and machine guns, military style tactics and indoctrination in "anti-Ethiopian, anti-American, anti-Israel, and anti-Western beliefs," according to a federal affidavit.
Two of those charged Monday helped raise money for the trips by approaching unknowing members of Minnesota's Somali community and soliciting funds by telling them it was to pay for trips for young Somali men to travel to Saudi Arabia and study the Koran, according to the affidavit.
Boelter and Jones said one reason they disclosed new details about the case was to reassure members of Minnesota's Somali community that the investigation is focused on a relatively small group of individuals. The larger community "has consistently expressed deep concern about this pattern of recruitment activity," Jones said...more..http://www.newser.com/article/d9c5iju81/feds-unseal-new-terror-charges-in-long-running-probe-of-men-who-left-us-to-fight-in-somalia.html
FBI announces charges against al-Shabaab recruiters http://bit.ly/7g7yZR
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