SEATTLE -- A Somali man with Seattle connections was detained and questioned by officials after his flight was diverted and forced to land in Canada.
Abdirahman Ali Gaal was on board a plane bound for Mexico when it was forced to land in Montreal, Canada, where Canadian police arrest him and turn him over to U.S. Homeland Security. Gaal is now being held in custody in New York.A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Gaal "was questioned by DHS officials on Tuesday, and is currently being detained pending immigration proceedings."But the department would not comment on why Gaal was deemed a security threat or why the plane he was on was denied permission to fly over the U.S. The department also refused to confirm or deny whether he had any terrorism ties. Gaal's stepsister, who lives near Seattle, said her stepbrother fled to war-torn Somalia when he was young. But he'd been living in Seattle until he left the country nearly a year ago. Gaal's brother recently told a Canadian newspaper he spent the last 10 months in North Africa studying Islam, and often chatted about his religious views on the website PalTalk.com. But Gaal's stepsister said he never spoke about terrorism. She added she's shocked to find out he's been arrested.FBI Director Robert Mueller recently visited Seattle and warned of growing attempts to recruit and radicalize young Muslim men across the U.S. Last September, a Somali teenager from Seattle was accused of killing 21 people in a suicide bomb attack at a United Nations compound in Somalia.
Abdirahman Ali Gaal was on board a plane bound for Mexico when it was forced to land in Montreal, Canada, where Canadian police arrest him and turn him over to U.S. Homeland Security. Gaal is now being held in custody in New York.A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Gaal "was questioned by DHS officials on Tuesday, and is currently being detained pending immigration proceedings."But the department would not comment on why Gaal was deemed a security threat or why the plane he was on was denied permission to fly over the U.S. The department also refused to confirm or deny whether he had any terrorism ties. Gaal's stepsister, who lives near Seattle, said her stepbrother fled to war-torn Somalia when he was young. But he'd been living in Seattle until he left the country nearly a year ago. Gaal's brother recently told a Canadian newspaper he spent the last 10 months in North Africa studying Islam, and often chatted about his religious views on the website PalTalk.com. But Gaal's stepsister said he never spoke about terrorism. She added she's shocked to find out he's been arrested.FBI Director Robert Mueller recently visited Seattle and warned of growing attempts to recruit and radicalize young Muslim men across the U.S. Last September, a Somali teenager from Seattle was accused of killing 21 people in a suicide bomb attack at a United Nations compound in Somalia.
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