Friday, April 1, 2011

Somali terrorists lure Toronto women


Two Somali-Canadian women who vanished from Toronto in early January travelled to Somalia and are believed to have joined Al Shabaab, say community members who fear the increasing appeal of this outlawed terrorist group among youth.
“No one knows what happened . . . how they were brainwashed,” said Mohamed Gilao of Dejinta Beesha, a Rexdale-based organization that helps Somali-Canadians.
“It’s very, very worrying.”
It is the first known case of women being recruited by Al Shabaab in North America, sending shock waves through Toronto’s Somali community.
Their disappearance is particularly troubling for those still reeling from news of the Tuesday night arrest of Mohamed Hersi, 25, at Pearson airport before boarding a flight for Cairo.
Police allege he planned to make his way to Somalia to join Shabaab. The Scarborough man, facing terror-related charges, is scheduled to appear in a Brampton court Friday to set a bail hearing.
It has long been believed that Shabaab was targeting only young men to take up arms with the Islamist youth militia.
In the United States, two Somali-born American women were indicted in 2010 for their alleged role in a fundraising scheme for the group. While fundraising efforts were focused in the U.S., they also allegedly solicited funds in Canada.
The Toronto women, believed to be good friends, are between the ages of 18 and 20. They disappeared from their west-end homes one morning in January, leaving behind unsuspecting families.
The two later emailed saying they were in Somalia, recalled a community member who knows both families and did not want his name disclosed. “They told their parents they were fine and not to look for them. Their parents are devastated. . . . They don’t know what to do.”
He said the two families had no indication their daughters were being radicalized. “They never saw it coming. Now they are very worried for the other kids, too.”
The women have since emailed their families a few times, but have never called, said another member of the Somali community.
Both women lived with their families and are believed to have been born in Canada. One was a student at the University of Toronto; it’s not clear where the other studied.
An uncle of one missing woman confirmed she was missing but did not want to talk about it.
Omar Jamal, who works with the UN’s Somali mission in New York and is well-known among the Somali diaspora in the U.S. and Canada, said women are more susceptible to indoctrination than men.
“We are slowly starting to realize that,” a shocked Jamal said in an interview. “I think the Shabaab is now targeting girls because they are believed to be more dedicated.”
In the U.S., women are still being used to collect funds from the Somali community, he added.
Back in Toronto, Canada’s spy agency has reportedly been questioning members of the community for the past couple of months about the missing women.
But the Canadian Security Intelligence Service would not comment on their disappearance or how many others they suspect have joined the ranks of the Shabaab.
“We are actively engaged in investigating security threats to Canada and Canadian interests, including the threat posed by radicalization and terrorism,” said agency spokesperson Tahera Mufti. “However, we will not publicly discuss specific operational activities or interests.”
The women are among the latest in a growing number of local youth suspected to have been recruited by the Al Qaeda-inspired movement.
Others from Toronto include a group of six young men who vanished in late 2009. Of the so-called Somali Six, Mohammed Elmi Ibrahim of Scarborough, died in battle about a year ago.
Ahmed Hussen, president of the Canadian Somali Congress, also says another man, who is about 20, fought with Shabaab between the ages of 16 to 18 but has since returned and is living in the Dixon Rd. neighbourhood known as Little Mogadishu.
Police allege Hersi, the University of Toronto science graduate arrested at the airport, also planned to take up arms.
In September, a tip about Hersi’s online activity reportedly came from his employer, a security company.
The tip was entered into the RCMP’s suspicious incident reporting system, a database which collects information on incidents involving critical infrastructure or national security.
Toronto police worked with the RCMP’s National Security Enforcement Team on Project Severe. Members of the Somali community “played a key role in providing intelligence” that helped with the case, said Hussen.
“It’s good the community is taking this very seriously and waking up to the danger of this kind of activity,” said Hussen, adding he was “deeply saddened but not surprised” by news of Hersi’s arrest.
“We’d been hearing about all these disappearances and investigations but no one had been arrested.”
The Shabaab, which is fighting the government, is often called Somalia’s Taliban. Its increasingly savvy online presence has been blamed as a possible reason for the disappearance of the young Canadians in 2009.
Somali community leaders fear other young people will be targeted as long as they feel alienated in this country, and embraced by another. Toronto star

Somali woman in terror money case to stay in jail

1 comment:

canuck said...

This recruitment should be facilitated by shipping them all back to Somalia, thereby saving them the cost of travel and Canada the need, real or perceived, for any programs of assimilation. This will also obviate the need to be sneaking thru YYZ or YUL, thereby decreasing the cost of security within Canada.
Like the Sikhs before them, let them fight their 9th Century wars from their own territory, not Canada's.

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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