Al Shabaab Targeting Men and Women in Canada as Receruits

Toronto man facing terrorism charges after allegedly planning to join a Somali group linked to Al Qaeda was granted bail on Friday. Mohamed Hassan Hersi, 25, will remain under 24-hour house arrest except for medical emergencies and lawyer meetings. Hersi must be with one of his four sureties at all times in a release plan approved by Justice of the Peace Hilda Weiss in a Brampton courtroom. Bail of $200,000 with no deposit was ordered. Hersi must not to have any Internet access, a cell phone or a smart phone, but can use a home landline.

He can’t possess any weapons or ammunition, and must remain in Ontario and not apply for a passport. The reasons for granting bail remain under a publication ban as is all evidence presented during a two-day special bail hearing held earlier this month. “It was a well-reasoned and thought out decision and we are obviously very pleased,” Hersi’s lawyer, Anser Farooq, said outside the courtroom. “I hope the Crown re-evaluates its case and decides whether this is a prosecution worth pursuing…” Federal Crown attorney Iona Jaffe said she accepts the court’s decision.

Hersi was arrested at Toronto’s Pearson Airport last month as he was about to board a jet to Cairo via London. He had a one-way ticket, police said. Police allege Hersi planned to join the Somali militant group Al Shabaab, which is trying to overthrow Somalia’s government. Al Shabaab has been designated as a terrorist group in the U.S. and Canada. His lawyer previously told reporters that his client never wanted to join the group. He claimed he was set up by a man who tried to befriend him.

Police suspect several young Canadians have gone to Somalia to join the group in recent years. Hersi is a Canadian citizen. He was traveling alone when arrested, police said. He was charged under Canada’s anti-terrorism law with attempting to participate in terrorist activity and with providing counsel to a person to participate in a terrorist activity.

Hersi’s arrest came following a six-month investigation dubbed “Project Severe.” Relatives earlier told the Star that Hersi planned to study Arabic for several months in Egypt. Hersi was born in Somalia but moved to Canada as a child. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a science degree in 2009 but had been working as a security guard, relatives said.

Hersi’s arrest sparked fears within the local Somali community that Al Shabaab, known as an Islamic youth militia, is still recruiting young men. In 2009, six Somali-Canadian men disappeared from the Toronto area and are believed to have joined the group. One died in battle about a year ago.

Because Al Shabaab is a listed terrorist group within the authority of law in Canada, any participation in that group constitutes an offence under Canadian law. Hersi’s next court appearance is scheduled for May 26

Source: The Star

The Rest @ Somali Swiss TV alleged to be from the Toronto Star

Canadian Al-Shabaab Militant Killed in Mogadishu

by IPT News • Jun 9, 2011 at 10:00 pm

UPDATE: The FBI's Minneapolis Office has confirmed the identity of one of two suicide bombers involved in the attack on a Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) military checkpoint in Mogadishu on May 30th as Farah Mohamed Beledi.

Somali forces killed a Canadian al-Shabaab fighter Wednesday in a gun fight that ensued after he and other man refused to obey orders to stop at a military checkpoint in the capital of Mogadishu.

A source from the Somali-Canadian community told the National Post that a cell phone found on the body contained text messages and call logs reflecting contact with family in Toronto. A Somali army official said that a Canadian passport on the body identified the man as Muhan Jeans.

Jeans, reported a Somali radio station, is known as "Abdurrahman the Canadian" and is said to be an al-Shabaab commander in charge of the Juba region, near the Kenyan border.

Canadian security authorities are currently investigating the disappearance of 20 Canadians thought to have traveled to Somalia to join the al-Qaida linked militant Islamist group. In March, Canadian police arrested 25-year-old Mohamed Hersi at a Toronto airport before he left for Somalia and charged him with plotting to join al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab is well-known for its ability to recruit Western youth to fight the Somali transitional government for its ultimate goal of installing a pan-Islamic state in Somalia.

Like Canada, the U.S. has also opened investigations into the disappearance of Somali youth-primarily out of Minnesota. One Minnesota man, indicted in absentia by the U.S. last year, was reported to have died while trying to execute an al-Shabaab suicide bomb attack in Mogadishu last week.

Family members identified 27-year-old Farah Beledi in a photo from the scene of the attack which killed three, including one government solider. The Star Tribune reports that Beledi is believed to have left Minnesota shortly before he was indicted with seven others on terrorism-related charges. Abdullahi Ahmed, also from Minnesota, was initially identified as the perpetrator of the attack.

The FBI has not yet confirmed the identity of the bomber. It is unclear whether the initial reports were incorrect or if both men were killed in the attack. A Minnesota Public Radio report noted that while Beledi died before he successfully activated his bombs, African Union officials say another man successfully detonated his.

The Rest @ The Toronto Star

Group may be trying to extend reach, head of Canadian Somali Congress says
Ottawa, Canada, August 6, 2011 – Terrorist recruiters are targeting young Canadian Somali women to take up arms, the head of the Canadian Somali Congress told U.S. politicians Wednesday

• In testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Ahmed Hussen suggested the reason may be increased police and security service attention over the recruitment of "dozens" of young Canadian Somali men from Ottawa and Toronto in recent years.
• "Lately, the recruiters have turned their attention to the facilitation of young Canadian Somali women into joining al-Shabaab," the radical Somali youth militia now fully integrated with al-Qaeda, Hussen said in a prepared statement
• Much of the youth recruiting is believed to be through the Internet and an online mix of religious tracts, rap music, videos and recruiting pitches delivered in English. Visiting extremist clerics are another propaganda source.

The fear, said Hussen, is that al-Shabaab will use Canadians and other westerners to extend its reach outside the war-and famine-ravaged East African nation, where it is battling a weak Western-backed government to turn the country into an Islamic state.

• "There is no shortage of foot soldiers and young men that al-Shabaab can recruit in Somalia, so why would they spend all this money, effort and at great risk to recruit westerners, people who hold Canadian, U.S. and British passports?" he said during questioning by committee members.
• "It's because we think they have aspirations beyond East Africa. They've proven that by attacking Uganda" last July with two suicide bombers, killing 79 people gathered to watch the FIFA World Cup Final on television.

U.S. officials are becoming increasingly worried, too, particularly after capturing an al-Shabaab commander who had allegedly been a liaison with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), an active Yemeni group that has tried to strike the U.S.

New York Republican Rep. Peter T. King, presiding Wednesday over the third in a series of controversial congressional hearings examining the radicalization of Muslim Americans, said committee staff investigators have determined that 40 Americans and 20 Canadians have joined the group in Somalia.

Critics charge that King's focus on Muslim Americans plays into the hands of extremists who say

Washington is wrongly targeting Islam for the 9/11 strikes.

• King revealed that three Canadians, whom he did not identify, and at least 15 Amer-icans have been killed in fighting.
• Previously, only one Canadian death was suspected, that of Mohamed Elmi Ibrahim, a University of Toronto student whom al-Shabaab said was killed "in battle" last year. He was the first of six Somali-Canadian men who reportedly disappeared from the Toronto area in 2009.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, 18 people have been charged in a scheme to recruit Somalis from the Minneapolis area to travel to Africa and join al-Shabaab. Eight defendants have been arrested, and six have pleaded guilty.

Fourteen people, including several U.S. citizens, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Minneapolis in last August on terrorism charges for travelling to Somalia and joining al-Shabaab, which Canada and the U.S. have banned as an outlawed terrorist group.

Canada's first arrest related to al-Shabaab was in March, when police detained Mohamed Hersi, 25, as the Canadian was waiting to board a flight from Toronto to Cairo. Police alleged his ultimate destination was Somalia and al-Shabaab. He is free on bail awaiting trial on two terrorism-related offences, including counselling a person to take part in terrorist activity.

Hussen could not be reached for comment after delivering his testimony.

• He has said previously that in addition to the "Somali Six" from the Toronto area, he has been told two young Ottawa men, as well as two young women, also left for the Horn of Africa nation.

His prepared text Wednesday, citing unnamed Canadian national security officials, referred to, "the disappearances of dozens of young Canadian Somali males who had travelled to Somalia to fight for the al-Shabaab."

In his testimony, Hussen portrayed Canada's estimated 200,000 Somalis as struggling to fit into mainstream Canadian society since fleeing civil war in the late 1990s.

• Almost 85 per cent of Canadian Somalis are under 30, with unemployment in Ottawa and Toronto hovering around 40 per cent in this group.
• Many young men have dropped out of school.
• Those who do persevere often can't find jobs in their professions, he said.

"A minority becomes alienated and fall victim to a narrative that turns them against Canada and the United States, the very countries that have sustained them and also gave refuge to their parents as they fled the brutal civil war in Somalia.

This dangerous and constant anti-western narrative is fed to them by radicals in our community who do not hesitate to use these vulnerable youth as gun fodder in their desire to establish a base for the al-Qaeda terrorist group in Somalia," he told the committee.

Police and security intelligence work is not enough to counter the threat, he said, nor is only working with religious leaders.

"You need to target the young professionals, people who are coming up, people who are dedicated to the values that have made this country great. Those are the people who have the credibility to turn back against the messaging that leads to radicalization.

"The fact of the matter is you can be a fully functioning Muslim in the United States and Canada more than any other place in the Islamic world because of our freedom of worship."

Although he spent many years in Toronto, Hussen was living in Ottawa when he founded the Canadian Somali Congress, one of the only national associations claiming to represent Somali-Canadians.

The organization does advocacy work and partners with other agencies, including Jewish Family Services of Ottawa, to organize professional internships for young Somali-Canadians.

Hussen often appears in the media, whether to talk about the Somali pirate issue, violence claiming the lives of Somali youth living in Alberta or, more recently, pressing the Canadian government to increase its immigration quota from Somalia in light of the worsening famine there.

The Rest @ The Somliland Times

"New" Sufi Militia Emerges to Oppose al Shabaab

Somali Pirate Ransom Negotiator Indicted in US

US charges accused Somali pirate negotiator again

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Somali man already facing U.S. charges of negotiating a ransom for four Americans later killed by pirates was indicted on Thursday for allegedly playing the same role in another incident with 22 hostages held seven months.

Mohammad Saaili Shibin was brought to the United States in April to face federal court charges in Norfolk, Virginia, over the pirating of an American yacht in February off the coast of Somalia and taking hostage two American couples who were later killed.

• Shibin allegedly researched over the Internet who the hostages were to try to determine how much money to demand and the identity of their family members so he could contact them about a ransom.
• The four slain Americans were Jean and Scott Adam of California and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle fromSeattle.

The new charges involved a different incident. Shibin was accused of being the ransom negotiator for the pirates who seized the M/V Marida Marguerite, a German-owned vessel with a crew of 22 men, who were held hostage off the coast of Somalia for seven months, starting in May 2010.

• According to the indictment, Shibin received $30,000 to $50,000 in U.S. cash as his share of the ransom payment.
• "Shibin is alleged to be among the select few who are entrusted with one of the most important tasks in Somali piracy -- ensuring a ship's owners pay the maximum amount of ransom possible for the release of a hijacked vessel," U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride, whose office brought the case, said in a statement.
• The 50-year-old Shibin now faces 15 counts, including charges of piracy, hostage taking, kidnapping and conspiracy. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

(Reporting by James Vicini; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

The Rest @ Zimbio

Italian Aid Worker Kidnapped in Darfur, Sudan

Aug 16, 2011 (2 days ago)

Italian aid worker kidnapped in South Darfur
by SudanTribube.com

August 15, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — An Italian aid worker has been abducted yesterday in the capital of South Darfur state by an unidentified group of armed men, the UNAMID and Italian government said today.

The logistics specialist was kidnapped on Sunday while he is was in the rout to the airport with two Sudanese colleagues, the UN hybrid mission said Monday. The abductors who were dressed in plain clothes took Francesco Azzara after stoping the car.

The Italian foreign ministry said concerned services are already working with the Sudanese authorities and the aid group Emergency.

The Italian medical aid group Emergency said Francesco, 34-year, was on his second visit to Nyala where it operates a pediatric center.

Abductors used to demand ransom and talks take time as the authorities used to convince them to release the hostages unharmed.

The UN Security Council on 29 July expressed its "deep concern" over the deterioration of security conditions in Darfur, including among others, the attack on aid workers.

However Khartoum denounced the resolution saying it distorts the image of the country and urged UN body to relay on verified reports.

The Rest @ The Sudan Tribune

Honda AP 851 ABJ Fails in Boko Haram Car Bombing

Nigeria: Massive Boko Haram suicide car bomb thwarted at state police headquarters
True to form, Boko Haram maintains its focus on institutions and practices that run contrary to its intentions to impose Sharia law as the only form of government. "Boko Haram: Suicide Bomber Killed In Maiduguri," from Leadership, August 16:

A 25-year-old suicide bomber was yesterday shot dead by the police when he rammed the vehicle he was driving into the gate of the state police headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State and headed straight for the main building in an attempt to bomb it.

The suicide bomber was suspected to be a member of the Boko Haram sect in the state.
Confirming the incident to journalists during a press briefing at the state police headquarters, Maiduguri, the commissioner of police, Borno State Command, Mr. Simeon Midenda, said that sometime last week, his command received a threat text message, that the police cadet officers screening exercise slated for yesterday would be disrupted by a faceless group.

He said the development prompted him to beef up security around the police headquarters and other formations.

Narrating the incident, Midenda explained that at about 12:15pm, the suicide bomber crashed through the gate of the police headquarters in a Honda Accord saloon car with registration number AP 851 ABJ, and headed for the main building with the intention of detonating bombs close to his office.

However, before the bomber could carry out his plan, armed policemen on guard within the premises opened fire on him. He further said, “On reaching the vehicle, our men discovered that the boot was loaded with gas cylinders containing explosives connected with wires ready for detonation.”

The commissioner said that the bomb disposal unit was promptly drafted to the scene, where, he claimed, they successfully incapacitated the improvised explosive devices (IED).

Our correspondent also gathered that items recovered from the car included

• six 13.6kg gas cylinders, each connected with wires;
• One air conditioner gas cylinder;
• two 25 litre jerry cans of fuel;
• One tin of Abro, five-litre volume and
• one Acid Orange drum of 28kg weight.

The CP said no written documents were recovered, saying that investigations had begun in earnest to unravel those behind the dastardly act.

The Rest @ Jihad Watch

Weapons Bound for Saad Hariri and Baniyas, Syria Intercepted in Lebanon

Islamabad—Lebanese army intelligence has intercepted a covert shipment of 1,000 assault rifles, reportedly destined for the city of Baniyas in Syria. According to Arabic daily Al-Akhbar, Army investigators uncovered ties between the smugglers and the political entourage of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Baniyas is one of a number of cities hit by protests against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in the months since the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The Syrian regime has mobilized the Syrian army against these protests, stating it was trying to repress violent opposition by armed guerrilla movements.Al-Akhbar published details of the arms shipment to Syria based on Lebanese security sources. According to Al-Akhbar, army intelligence had been notified that two members of the Tamim clan from Tripoli were seeking large quantities of arms to be delivered to Syria. One of the two suspects was the manager of the tourist seaport of Marina, which is administered by Solidere, a real-estate firm founded by the late billionaire and former premier Rafik Hariri, Saad Hariri’s father.Lebanese intelligence eavesdropped on discussions between the suspects and an arms dealer, in which the two sides agreed on a down payment of US$100,000 once buyers were shown high-quality Kalashnikov and M-16 rifle samples. The plan was to either ship the rifles in one batch by sea to Baniyas in Syria, or to divide it into smaller batches and smuggle it through Lebanon’s northern border. The suspects and the dealer were followed and arrested by army intelligence forces on July 30, after delivery of the arms in Ras Beirut.

Arabic daily Al-Safir newspaper quoted a security official: “The recently foiled operation is still under investigation, and there has been highly significant information gleaned from those involved who are affiliated with a prominent tendency in the March 14 alliance.

This is not the only operation that they have carried out.”The March 14 alliance is a coalition of Lebanese political parties hostile to Syria, whose largest member is Saad Hariri’s Al-Mustaqbal (“The Future”) movement. Its name comes from the date of the so-called Cedar Revolution of 2005, a series of US-backed street demonstrations that led the Syrian army to evacuate Lebanon after the assassination of Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.

Saad Hariri served as prime minister from 2009 to January 2011, when Hezbollah—a Syrian-backed Lebanese Shiite political party and armed militia— left Hariri’s governmental coalition, bringing down his government.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television identified the smugglers as Wassam and Samir Tamim. They have reportedly confessed to running over 30 arms-smuggling operations from Marina to Baniyas with the assistance of Mohammad Kabbara, a member of the Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc . Al-Manar stated that the center of operations was Kabbara’s farm in northern Lebanon, adding that this was also a transit point for Salafist fighters traveling to the Syrian city of Homs.

The Syrian army claimed last week that in recent fighting near Homs it has detained hundreds of Salafi fighters (reportedly including Afghans) with Lebanese documents, whose transfer to Syria was facilitated by Kabbara.

The Lebanese cabinet met to discuss the arms-smuggling case. There are increasing tensions between political forces inside Lebanon—especially between the US-backed March 14 alliance and the Syrian-backed March 8 alliance formed around Hezbollah.

The discovery of covert arms shipments to Syria by Lebanese politicians comes amid rising pressure by US on President Assad. US officials are warning they may soon issue a statement formally demanding the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Al Qaeda in North Africa After Bin Laden

Posted at Vimeo 2 MOnth ago.

TERRORISM IN NORTH AFRICA AFTER BIN LADEN: CHALLENGES FOR US POLICY from ASMEA on Vimeo.