Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Depending on whom you ask, Mahamud Said Omar is either a well-connected member of an Islamist terror group or he’s mental ill and incapable of being an integral part of a terrorism recruiting network, the Star Tribune reports. Today the 46-year-old Somali man who immigrated to Minnesota in 1993 is expected to…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A year-long investigation into a Somali terror group’s efforts to recruit Americans may be gathering steam in Minnesota, the Associated Press reports. The FBI has been focusing on Minnesota because it’s home to the largest Somali population in the U.S., according to the AP. Fueling fears that al-Shabab is succeeding in its…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A Chicago man accused of traveling to Somalia to become a suicide bomber for a terrorist group tied to al-Qaida faces nearly 10 year in prison, the Chicago Tribune reports. Shaker Masri, 28, agreed to plead guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization in exchange…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com The remains of a suicide bomber in Somalia are being tested by the FBI. Some believe the bomber may be one of at least 21 young Somali-American men that in recent years have left Minneapolis to join al-Shabab, the Somali terrorist group, reports the Associated Press. If tests confirm the deceased…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Three Somalian men charged with murdering four Americans aboard the Quest ship in February near Somalia, could face the death penalty if convicted in Virginia Authorities on Friday announced a superseding indictment in Norfolk, Va. Of the 26 counts, 22 are death penalty eligible. “Today’s superseding indictment charges three men from…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Three Somali pirates pled guilty Friday in federal court in Norfolk, Va., to leading the group that hijacked the S/V Quest in the Indian Ocean, which resulted in the death of four American crew members in February. “These men have admitted to pirating an American yacht and holding four U.S. citizens…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The long arm of the FBI reached into Somalia and plucked out a man suspected of being the chief negotiator for a group of pirates who hijacked an American yacht in February and ultimately killed all four people aboard, authorities announced Wednesday. Mohammad Saaili Shibin, who worked ashore as the pirates…
By Allan Lengel ticklethwire.com WASHINGTON — A New York Times story is questioning the actions of the FBI in connection with the four-day standoff with pirates off the Somalia coast that ended with all four crew members aboard a 58-foot yacht being murdered. The Times reported that an F.B.I. hostage-rescue negotiator aboard the U.S.S. Sterett…
