Category: Africa

Jihadist pipeline is still flowing despite earlier claims that it had dried up

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

National Public Radio reported on Tuesday that there has been another arrest in the Somali missing youth case that began with the discovery last year that young Somali, former refugees (who received all the benefits of life in America), have returned to Africa to join the terrorist group Al Shabaab.   This NPR story gives us a few bits of important new information.

The FBI has made another arrest in its yearlong investigation into a rash of disappearances from the Somali community in Minnesota.

A 26-year-old medical technician from St. Paul was arrested on Friday and charged with making false statements to FBI officials. His arrest had been under seal until Tuesday, when he appeared in a St. Paul federal court. He was indicted Wednesday on the charges.

An FBI spokesman said that Abdow Abdow’s arrest was related to the ongoing investigation into the two dozen Somali youths who have left the United States and traveled to Somalia to join a militia there called al-Shabab.

The criminal complaint against Abdow says he lied about driving a handful of Somali-Americans from Minneapolis across the country on Oct. 6. One of the young men in the car had his passport and $4,000 in cash. Two other young men who were passengers in Abdow’s car tried to leave the United States through Mexico two days later.

[….]

U.S. intelligence officials have been following the case out of concern that the Somalis leaving Minneapolis are being funneled to al-Shabab through what might be America’s first jihadi pipeline. Think of the potential pipeline as an underground railroad for jihadists — an intricate but informal network of militants who help their brothers in arms not only travel to terrorist training camps but also return home. The return trip to America is what worries U.S. intelligence. They envision a raft of young men training for jihad and slipping back into the U.S. to launch an attack.

What’s new here?   This is the first time we have learned that some Jihadist wannabes may leave through Mexico; so will they return through Mexico?

Then the other thing that jumped out at me, is the report that the incident spurring the arrest occured on October 6th—9 days ago!

I thought we were told by leaders in the Muslim community in Minnesota back in August that the “pipeline” had shut down?   Was this wishful thinking by the spokesman or an effort to divert attention?  From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

A prominent Minneapolis Somali community leader said Tuesday that he believes the recruitment of young Somali-Americans from the Twin Cities to fight jihad in their homeland has slowed or stopped.

Speaking at a workshop to address the issue, Saeed Fahia, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Communities of Minnesota,* said the radicalization of Somali youth here is “over.” The combination of worldwide media and law enforcement scrutiny, coupled with greater vigilance by parents, has caused the recruiting pipeline here to dry up, he said.

“It’s come to a halt. People felt this has gone too far,” Fahia said. “And the thing is, parents are really alert. Many parents are saying, ‘Where are my children? Who do they talk to?’ You don’t trust anybody.”

Fahia’s comments come as federal investigators bear down on those believed to have recruited up to 20 Twin Cities men over the past two years to fight for Al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamic group that the State Department defines as a terrorist organization affiliated with Al-Qaida. Counterterrorism officials point to the ongoing risk that local Somalis, many of whom are U.S. citizens, could return to this country as trained terrorists.

* See my earlier report on the political activities of the Confederation of Somali Communities of MN, a taxpayer supported group known as an Ethnic Community Based Organization (ECBO).  Think of ECBOs as mini-ACORNs!

For new readers:

The US State Department has admitted over 80,000 Somali refugees to the US in the last 25 years and then last year had to suspend family reunification because widespread immigration fraud was revealed through DNA testing.

Obama’s weakness strengthens Al-Shabaab

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

James Jay Carafano links America’s new posture of weakness and the probability of an attack from Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab in an op-ed piece today in the Washington Examiner. (That’s a paper well worth reading, by the way.)  He says:

Today, the group aims to be a world-class terrorist outfit, recruiting fighters under the banner of religious holy war. They are more than just a local band of fanatics. They may be plotting the next 9/11.  

When you start to “connect the dots,” (the phrase made famous by the 9/11 Commission), you find there are a lot of dots to connect.
Al-Shabaab is no home-grown terrorist boy’s club. Various news sources report “foreign fighters” have joined their ranks, some in high-level leadership positions. That suggests that group has an international perspective and sees itself as part of the global Islamist campaign.
 
Furthermore, government intelligence officials find unambiguous links between al Qaeda and Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab seems to see itself as the East African franchise of Osama Bin Laden International. Last month, the group released a video featuring a Somali training camp and members pledging their allegiance to Bin Laden.
 
As you know if you read RRW regularly,
 
Most troubling, Al-Shabaab definitely has links to the United States. There is a significant Somali Diaspora here. Most came in the wake of the civil war. Somali communities have sprung up across the country. About 25,000 live in Minnesota, where hundreds of Somali-owned businesses dot the state. 
 
Al-Shabaab has been recruiting fighters from the U.S. to help wage their holy war. An American Somali recently took part in the suicide bombing of an African Union peacekeeping base in Mogadishu. The question now is whether Al-Shabaab will use its network to launch attacks here. U.S. officials think they might.
 
And here is the important connection:
 
Sensing weakness in the U.S. effort in Afghanistan, the Islamist group may believe Bin Laden’s pronouncement that America has become a “paper tiger.” If so, now would be the time for them to strike.
 
Carafano is too kind. It’s certainly not just weakness in our Afghanistan effort. It’s also President Obama’s continuous groveling before our enemies and our Muslim “friends” like the king of Saudi Arabia. I’ll never forget that picture of Obama bowing to the king as long as I live! At the moment we are indeed a paper tiger, because no matter what our actual military strength, if our government is determined not to stand up for our interests we may as well not have a military. To be  clear, Carafano doesn’t mention Obama; just “the government.”
 
Carafano goes on to talk about counterterrorism measures:
 
Stopping any Al-Shabaab operation here will require solid counterterrorism operations and non-stop intelligence sharing. In particular, we are going to need the tools authorized under the Patriot Act which have helped foil at least 26 intended attacks on the U.S. since 9/11.
 
Some of these authorities, such as “roving wire taps” that let law enforcement agencies track suspected terrorists as they jump from cell phone to cell phone, are now up for renewal in  Congress.
And I’ll point out that if Congress doesn’t renew those measures we’ll be hurt two ways: One by losing the measures as weapons in our fight against terrorism on our land, and two by continuing and amplifying the signal that we’re weak, weak, weak.  Carafano’s conclusion:
 
Given all the misinformation that’s been spread by opponents of the Patriot Act, let me make one more important point right here. It would be a terrible idea to regard Somali immigrants as terrorist suspects. Profiling any group because of a few bad apples is simply un-American.
 
Somalis are professionals, teachers, barbers, factory workers, cab drivers, soccer moms, and members of the PTA. Communities should be working with them, building stronger ties, fighting extremist ideas, and helping them share the American dream. That’s counter radicalization, American-style. 
 
As Ann has shown, the situation is far more complex than that. But I think Carafano knows that. We do know that there are Somalis who are upset and distressed by the radicalization of their young men by imams and others. Just as in Iraq we worked with ordinary people who did not want jihad or civil war, we of course should find and strengthen those Somalis who reject radicalism. And that would be first and foremost the women. I wonder if our government has a clue about that.

Somali terrorists threaten US interests in South Africa

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update (before even finishing this post!):  US Embassy in Pretoria evacuated today, not sure whether it was a drill or for real, here.

Did you know that we closed our US Embassy and other US facilities in Pretoria last month for a couple of days because of intelligence reports about Somali Al-Shabaab jihadists plotting revenge?   I didn’t know that.  Here is the report from South Africa yesterday.

An expert on Islamic militancy has warned that the South African intelligence services are “woefully, inadequately prepared” for the potential threat of terrorism during the World Cup next year.

Hussein Solomon, head of the International Institute of Islamic Studies in Pretoria, said militants had already established cells in South Africa.

He was commenting today on reports that Somali terrorists linked to al-Qaeda have been planning to attack US interests here.

The Weekend Argus reported that the US government had closed its embassy in Pretoria and all other US government facilities for two days last month because intelligence agencies had intercepted a call from Khayelitsha to the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab extremist group in Somalia, discussing a plot to blow up American interests.

Experts believe the World Cup scheduled for South Africa in 2010 will be the magnet to bring Americans to South Africa and provide an opportunity for Islamic forces to get Americans.

The sources added that the efforts by local intelligence agencies to trace the Cape Town Somalis was disrupted when police commissioner Bheki Cele went on national television to say that the country’s intelligence structures
were on top of the situation. This prompted the Somalis to go further underground.

Solomon said today that he had been trying to warn authorities for some time about the threat of terrorist action during the World Cup.

Easier to get at Americans in South Africa.

“Everyone outside this country seems to know who is threatening South Africa. We must not think we are protected because we are far away. Often these things have nothing to do with South Africa. They are just an opportunity to attack America.”

Other sources said that Somali terrorists devised the strategy to take on the US in South Africa because it was easier than fighting the superpower in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.

Just a reminder that when the “moderate” President of Somalia, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed,  spoke in the US recently, he warned that the Al Shabaab recruiters who have been in the US for more than a year are still here—presumably still recruiting former refugees.   So, heck, they could get Americans on our own soil.

For new readers, inspite of all this, we are still bringing thousands of Somalis to the US each year:

The US State Department has admitted over 80,000 Somali refugees to the US in the last 25 years and then last year had to suspend family reunification because widespread immigration fraud was revealed through DNA testing.

Another white South African granted asylum

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a story from Ireland to follow-up the earlier story from Canada, here, about white South Africans seeking asylum and claiming persecution in the “rainbow nation.”

Dianne Jefferson (22), who moved to Ireland to live with her father when she was 14, was turned down for a resident’s visa even though she was married to an Irishman. She appealed to the Dublin High Court for permission to stay in the country, stating in her affidavit: “I say and believe that as a white South African there is a real possibility of criminal racial discrimination against me and I fear for my well-being and ultimately my life if I am returned.”

The judge granted her an injunction stopping immigration authorities from deporting her, and she has now been given a five-year residency visa.

The South African government is not too happy with the trend.

“This is untrue and inaccurate to suggest that crime is racially motivated and that a particular section of the South African society is more likely to be exposed to crime than any other,” the department said. “The South African government has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to provide safety and security to all South Africans, black and white, and not only to a select section of its population.”

The department went on: “The applicant’s unsubstantiated claims and suggestions are nothing but an attempt to tarnish the integrity of all South Africans, black and white, and to damage the country’s reputation.

“While South Africa faces many developmental challenges, insinuations that crime is racially based are inaccurate.”

I might actually agree with the South African government on one point (well, sort of anyway).  I haven’t written about the subject for awhile but it seemed that all that terrorizing and killing that had been going on in South Africa in recent years wasn’t racial because it was mostly black on black terrorizing.   Here is my most recent post on how Somalis trying to escape the persecution by South African blacks were caught, and returned.

A refugee racket, or two?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a story from the UK this week that caught my attention, ‘Conman jailed for bogus charity cash claims.’   It seems this Rwandan asylee set up a bogus refugee group and persuaded charities to give him grants which he then used for his own high-flying lifestyle.

A PLYMOUTH man who conned the BBC’s Children in Need and the Big Lottery Fund out of thousands of pounds has been jailed.

Unemployed Kanyogota Sejojo swindled more than £18,000 out of the two national charities – and the Devon Community Foundation Fund – by making a series of bogus funding claims on behalf of a “false” charity.

Sejojo, aged 40, was sentenced to 19 months in prison on Tuesday.
In a statement issued on behalf of all three funding organisations, they said they welcomed the conviction.

“As the funders of charities affected by this criminal activity we very much welcome the sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court of Kanyogota Sejojo for fraudulently obtaining charitable funds by deception and misusing charitable funds,” the statement said.

We (and the Brits too!) are such suckers for anyone who says they are taking care of refugees.

The extent of his “systematic and well-organised” crime was uncovered during a lengthy and detailed investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Specialist and Economic Crime Command.

Sejojo, who came to the UK from Rwanda during the late 1990s as an asylum seeker, committed his offences between 2003 and 2004.

During these years he moved from London to Plymouth where he established a ‘charitable organisation’ called the Devon African Refugee Community Association.

This organisation had the stated aim of providing support and financial aid to refugees from his homeland.

The court heard how Sejojo made a series of successful funding bids to organisations including the Big Lottery Fund (£10,000), BBC Children in Need (£2,750) and the Devon Community Foundation Local Network Fund (£5,900).

But instead of spending the money on bona fide charity work, Sejojo used it to subsidise his own lifestyle and improve his social standing by appearing to be a benefactor to other asylum seekers.

Skipping over to the USA

I received an e-mail at RRW this week from someone looking for leads on grant money for a non-profit in Georgia.  But, the ACORN scam (and its mortgage projects and federal grant rip-offs) has made me so cynical, I don’t know if I believe this is a legit organization.  Here is the e-mail (I’ve left the woman’s name out), maybe a reader can tell me if this is for real.   Note from the website that they are geared to helping people in Haiti, so what gives with the Georgia connection?

My name is (blank), I am part of a non-profit organization(www.sonjeayiti.com). We have partnered with a financial consulting firm(fiducia Financial services) to do financial education for immigrants. We have visited several churches and been able to assist a lot with the mortgage crisis and others for free. We are located in Ga, and wanted to know what federal/states grants are available in GA to reach out to such vulnerable populations. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Makes me wonder if Wade Rathke has been doing some community organizing in Haiti!  The UK too!  And, by the way, it’s no longer “for free” when the taxpayers are asked to pay for the charitable work.