Somali Indictment in the Works?

by IPT News  •  Jul 2, 2009 at 9:28 am

http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2009/07/somali-indictment-in-the-works

It looks as if the FBI's investigation into what's behind the disappearance of more than 20 Somali men from the Minneapolis area has resulted in at least one indictment. Fox News reporter Mike Levine reports at least three people have been indicted and one may already be in custody:

"Among those charged is a man from Minneapolis who went to war-torn Somalia and then, about four months ago, relocated to Seattle, according to the two sources and a leader in the Minneapolis Somali community. The man was then arrested in a Seattle airport and transferred to a jail in Minneapolis, where he is currently being detained, according to the law enforcement sources.

The law enforcement sources said the man, described as in his 20s, has been charged with providing material support to a terrorist group, in this case al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006."

Some of the men have returned from Somalia, but law enforcement officials indicate they don't believe the men. One of the men who disappeared from Minneapolis, Shirwa Ahmed, died in a suicide bombing in Somalia that killed dozens of people.

Relatives of many of the missing men have cooperated with the investigation.

Levine quotes Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn., expressing his relief that charges may be pending:

"What we have is human trafficking. Those Somali boys were being trafficked for a war."

About 50 members of the Minneapolis Somali community protested outside a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) ice cream social last month, saying CAIR was discouraging cooperation with the investigation.

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