Category: Africa

Canadian Somali arrested in Somalia, believed to be member of al-Shabaab

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Every day I can count on checking the news and finding a new story about the Somali missing youths and terrorism.   This morning it is being reported by the Calgary Herald that one of Canada’s missing former refugees has been arrested in Somalia.  It was only ten days ago we reported that a mosque leader in Canada was denying any Canadian Somalis had returned to Africa for terrorist training.  Guess he was wrong.

TORONTO — A Canadian has been arrested in Somalia for allegedly planning to bomb leaders of a moderate political faction, according to local media reports that identified him as a member of the militant group Al-Shabab.

Abdifatah Mohamad Ibrahim appeared in court in the central Galgudud region, where authorities showed his Canadian passport to spectators, according to Radio Garowe and the Somali-language news site allpuntland.com.

As I read this, I wonder what it costs Canada (and us) to raise a young African refugee with food, health care and education just for him to grow up and go to Africa to become a jihadist.

Consular assistance to Canadians in distress!

And, golly gee, Canadian officials are wondering how they might provide “consular assistance” to their citizen.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was not aware of any recent arrests of Canadian citizens in Somalia but Ottawa has no diplomatic presence in the country. Consular officials in Nairobi were seeking further information on the matter.

“Due to the highly volatile and unpredictable nature of the security situation in Somalia, the government of Canada’s ability to provide consular assistance to Canadians in distress is severely restricted,” said Daniel Barbarie, a Foreign Affairs spokesman.

But, Canada, don’t worry it’s only a handful of extremists.

Canada is home to about 150,000 ethnic Somalis, according to a report by Canada’s Integrated Threat Assessment Centre. Most are moderates but the report says that, “Some Somali-Canadians have fought as Islamist extremists in Somalia.”

Some missing American Somali youths are going public in Somalia

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, there is more in this Fox News report about “the American” we told you about yesterday.   Hat tip:  Blulitespecial.

Two young Americans who left their homes to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia held a rare “press conference” in Southern Somalia on Monday, saying they want to be killed “for the sake of God,” according to a U.S. law enforcement official and a video posted on a Somali news Web site.

[….]

Today is the first time any of these men have spoken publicly.

They want others to know why they joined al-Shabaab according to a translation by none other than our old buddy Omar Jamal (See all of our coverage on this guy here. We should have made him his own category at RRW).

“We came from the U.S. with a good life and a good education [Edit:  note they are not joining the jihad because of a life of poverty], but we came to fight alongside our brothers of al-Shabaab … to be killed for the sake of God,” one man said in the video, as translated by Omar Jamal, the executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

In the video, two men, identifying themselves as Abu-Muslim and Abu Yaxye, say they are “Somali youth” from the United States who are now stationed near the city of Kismayo, more than 300 miles southwest of Mogadishu, according to Jamal. The men say they are talking to media for the first time so others can learn why they joined al-Shabaab, he said.

More on “the American”—- a white guy (note you can see a close-up of him at the Fox report):

A law enforcement official confirmed to FOX News that the man, identified in the video as Abu Mansur al-Amriki, is originally from the United States, but said he has been in Somalia “for some time.” The official said the man is in his late 20s or early 30s, and left the United States “many” years ago.

So what is the big deal about going to Somalia “many” years ago.   Who cares if it’s “many” or a few?

The FBI is looking for ‘missing youth’ cases in other American cities, but are quick to say there is no evidence that they are being trained to return with their newly acquired skills to use against us.   There is no evidence that they are not!

The FBI investigation into how young American men were recruited to join al-Shabaab in Somalia is active in Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Boston; Seattle; and San Diego, according to testimony from counterterrorism officials and others at a Senate hearing last month. But, officials said, there is no intelligence to indicate that Somali-Americans who traveled to Somalia are planning attacks inside the United States.

But some are back, we heard that a couple of weeks ago. 

The source familiar with the FBI investigation would not say publicly if authorities know the whereabouts of the men who returned to the United States, nor would the source say if authorities are pursuing arrests in the case. But Muslim leaders in the Minneapolis area told FOX News that they believe arrests are coming.

So what is taking so long?  I’ll bet you a buck it’s illegal to go to a foreign terror training camp and then return to the US.

See our archive of all the ‘missing Somali youths’ (former refugees) stories here.

For new readers and reporters who might be wondering how we came to have all these Somalis in the US, visit this post.

American is believed to be a leader in Al-Shabaab

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update April 6th:  More on “the American” here.

And, he wants your kids!    We have been following the case of the missing Somali youths (former refugees) since it first came to the media’s attention back in November, but here is an unexpected turn of events in the case.

According to the AP, a man of European or Arab descent, speaking English with a North American accent, is shown on an apparent recruitment video asking for your young people to join him in the jihad in Somalia.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A man who calls himself an American promotes holy war in Somalia in a video posted this week on an Islamic militant Web site.

A U.S. government contractor who tracks extremist propaganda says the footage is the first to show what may be an American with a senior role in al-Shabab, a Somali group the State Department considers a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida.

The half-hour video features an amateur English-language rap soundtrack and purports to show an operation against Ethiopian troops in Somalia. It appeared on Web sites where al-Qaida and other militant groups often post messages and videos. A caption says it was filmed on July 15, 2008.

His name is Abu Mansour al-Amriki—the American.

A tall man with long dark hair and a wide smile who appears to be in his 20s and gives his nom de guerre as “Abu Mansour al-Amriki,” or “the American,” urges Muslims around the world to send their children to replace his group’s fallen fighters.

“If you can encourage more of your children, and more of your neighbors, and anyone around you to send people … to this jihad, it would be a great asset for us,” he says.

Al-Amriki speaks English with a North American accent and reads verses from the Quran in fluent classical Arabic. He appears to be of European or possibly Arab descent but it was impossible to independently confirm his nationality or where the video was filmed.

The article does mention American Adam Gadahn’s prominant role with Al-Qaida but those who have seen the film contend this is the first case of an American (he could also be a Canadian?) in a leadership role in the Jihad.

“This is the first time an American has been shown in a leadership/senior role advising/teaching a group of jihadists,” IntelCenter said in an e-mailed analysis. “This is a significant development and likely to be indicative of other developments within the group.”

Somali terrorist recruitment film turns up in Minnesota

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The FBI is looking for more information about a 30-minute terror recruitment film aimed at English-speaking Somali refugees.  The report from WCCO-TV in Minneapolis (hat tip: a friend from Tennessee) doesn’t say where the FBI got the film.

The FBI is taking a close look at a video that uses slick production and anti-American messages to get young men interested in terrorism.

The Feds are trying to figure out how legitimate and significant this video is. At one point in the video, the narrator praises the men who’ve left the west to fulfill an obligation in the holy war.

The 30 minute tape shows Somali and Ethiopian troops fighting in July 2008.

Terrorist groups like Al Shebab, are using gunfights like this to lure young American men to join their cause.

Read more here, where local Somalis call the film B.S., and watch a short clip of the video.

See our archive on the missing Somali youths saga here.

American missing Somalis are watched, guarded and heavily trained

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a report from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) yesterday that sheds more light on the Somali missing youths (former refugees) believed to have joined the terrorist group Al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa.  It seems that family members here in the US are working the phones and their contacts in Somalia to find their missing young men.

Minneapolis, Minn. — The Somali community in Minneapolis is still well-networked into the homeland. Family and business ties make it surprisingly common for people to stay in touch with the social life and economy of this failed state. Somalia hasn’t had a working government since 1991.

Osman Ahmed [Ahmed testified in the recent Senate Homeland Security hearing], whose 17-year-old nephew Burhan Hassan disappeared last November, has been working his contacts back home to try to find his nephew. He knows the FBI is also on the case, but he says law enforcement is mainly concerned with making sure the men don’t cause harm in the United States.

Can the men receive immunity?

Mohamed [Abdirashid Mohamed], the commerce minister [old friend of Osman Ahmed], said his government has had no direct contact with the missing men, but is trying to reach them through appeals on the radio.

“We cannot get to them directly, but through the media,” he said. “We would like to give them forgiveness. And if they join in the peace process, we will assist them and we will appeal to the international community that they will not take any action against them.”

The transitional government is advertising immunity if these men return to their home countries. Young Somalis have reportedly gone missing from Britain as well.

But immunity is a big promise, considering it’s a major violation of U.S. law to join and fight with a terrorist group or to fight against an ally of the U.S., such as Ethiopia. Somali-Americans in their teens and 20s have told MPR that they believe some of the missing men sought to defend their homeland from Ethiopian troops, which invaded Somalia in 2006 but have since left.

The Somali commerce minister said he’s reached out to staff at the American embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, to ease the way for these missing men to return home.

Relatives are painting a picture of brainwashed youngsters.  Hum!

Another uncle of 17-year-old Burhan Hassan is constantly calling up his old friends about the fate of the missing men. Abdirizak Bihi said these friends from his homeland have told him that the missing men are being held captive in the southern part of Somalia that Al-Shabaab controls. He believes an unknown recruiter in Minnesota lured his nephew to Somalia under a false pretext.

“Someone here — some people, some group, someone — has been painting a perfect picture of Somalia,” Bihi said. “That is being confirmed by some of the conversations we’ve been having with people on the ground in Somalia.”

Bihi said his friends have told him that the young Americans “are being watched, they are heavily guarded, and heavily trained — mentally and physically.” He declined to explain how they were gathering such information, saying he didn’t want to jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

MPR reports that there is no confirmation that any have returned to the US.

There remain unconfirmed rumors that some of the missing men have returned to the U.S. But it’s obvious to Bihi that his nephew and many others are still in Africa. He said the young men have made phone calls to their families right before press conferences to address their disappearances.

A phone call doesn’t confirm where they are calling from, this only confirms they are hearing the news from Minneapolis.