A third Somali, former refugee, plead guilty in Minneapolis this week. He admitted fighting with Al-Shabaab in Somalia. For readers who have been following this case for a long time, what is puzzling to me, is how did 3 Al-Shabaab-trained terrorists get back into the US? Four others died in Somalia and three of those are believed to have been killed by Al-Shabaab itself because they might return and tell who recruited them. Why did Al-Shabaab let these three return?
So, did the three who have now plead guilty talk? Do we know the recruiter or recruiters?
Here is the latest from AP:
MINNEAPOLIS — A third man pleaded guilty Wednesday to terror-related charges stemming from a federal investigation into Americans traveling to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants.
Kamal Hassan acknowledged lying to FBI agents questioning him in February about the case and admitted spending time at a training camp run in Somalia by al-Shabab, a group designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida.
Hassan told federal agents that he traveled to Yemen after spending time in the camp, but admitted Wednesday to a federal judge in Minneapolis that he had lied. He told U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum he fought with al-Shabab in Somalia.
Hassan also admitted concealing the identities of people he associated with in Minnesota and Somalia.
Few other details about Hassan’s case emerged in court, and his age and hometown weren’t immediately available.
[….]
He faces up to eight years in prison in a plea agreement worked out with the U.S. attorney’s office. A sentencing date wasn’t immediately set.
Court documents unsealed later Wednesday showed that Hassan had pleaded guilty in February to two other charges: providing material support for terrorism and providing material support for a foreign terrorist organization. Court documents said Hassan faces up to 15 years in prison on each of those charges.
Here is the post on the second Somali who plead guilty last month in the case. For new readers, this is a post where I have kept a chronology of the evolving story of the missing Somali youths, unfortunately I haven’t kept it up to date, but you can see how this issue has developed over many months. I need to get to work and put in posts since mid-July!