Missing Somalis take case to congress (videos)

[Sagaashan]

Somalis testify in front of congress and Joe Lieberman about the missing minnesota kids in somalia. Do you sympathize with the parents of this kids that are worried about their kids, especailly the young ones and approve of their take no prisoners approach to the situation or do you think they are making things worse for US Somalis and should find creative means to find a solution. Things are pretty much getting out of hand and it takes more time to fly in or fly out of the country, and the biggest Somali mosque is under scrutiny day in and out.

[Sagaashan]

Officials: Terror worries tied to Midwest Somalis
By LOLITA C. BALDOR – 21 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior counterterrorism officials say the East Africa-based terrorist group that is recruiting young men from the Minneapolis region has ties to al-Qaida insurgents, including those along Pakistan's ungoverned, mountainous border with Afghanistan.

In the starkest terms to date, federal officials are laying out their concerns that young Somalis who have disappeared from their homes in Minnesota are being trained by al-Shabab insurgents and could be tasked to return to the U.S. to conduct attacks.

While there is no credible evidence that the young men who traveled to Somalia have returned to plan attacks, "we cannot rule out that potential given the indoctrination and training they might have received in East Africa," said Andrew Liepman, deputy director of intelligence at the National Counterterrorism Center, in remarks prepared for delivery at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

J. Philip Mudd, a senior FBI official, endorsed those concerns, and said more individuals have been drawn from the Minneapolis region than any other part of the country.

Liepman and Mudd are scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, along with representatives from the Somali community in Minnesota.

The State Department considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization, with growing links to al-Qaida, something the group denies. Al-Shabab, which means "The Youth," has been gaining ground as Somalia's Western-backed government crumbles. The group's goal is to establish an Islamic state in Somalia.

Four months ago, a young Somali man left Minneapolis to become a suicide bomber. He detonated a bomb he was wearing, one step in a series of coordinated attacks targeting a U.N. compound, the Ethiopian consulate and the presidential palace in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa. It was the first known time a U.S. citizen was a suicide bomber.

Officials say they don't know how many young people have left Minnesota to go to Somalia, but suggest they were lured away through "sustained interaction" with extremists both in person and via the Internet.

Osman Ahmed's nephew was one of them.

In his written testimony, Ahmed blamed the high school student's departure in part on a local mosque.

He said his nephew, Burhan Hassan, was just eight months old when he left his Somali homeland, traveling first to a refugee camp in Kenya before settling in Minnesota with his mother. Hassan, he said, was a good student and was taking calculus and chemistry in his senior year at Roosevelt High School and studying Islam at the nearby Abu-Bakar As-Saddique mosque.

Ahmed said others who disappeared also went to the mosque.

"It is the dream of every Somali parent to have their children go to the mosque but none of them expected to have their children's mind programmed in a manner that is in line with the extremist's ideologies," he said.

According to Ahmed, information the families have gotten back from people in Somalia suggests the teens are lured back with notions of Islamic utopia. When they arrive, he said, they are whisked to military camps, and are told that if they try to return to the U.S. they will end up in the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.

The counterterrorism officials stressed that they are not seeing a widespread radicalization of Somali-Americans — many of whom fled the violence in their homeland. Many, they said, are single mothers struggling to raise their families and fit in despite ongoing language and cultural hurdles.

Instead, the officials said they are most worried about al-Shabab's links to al-Qaida and the possibility that Somalia will become a safe haven for insurgent training.

[Firefly]

I feel for their parents. I hope they return home safe, insha-Allah.

They always have to blame the Mosque. I doubt they teach children to go blow themselves up in Mosques.

[Voltage]

Actually my friend brought to my attention that I could possibly be under watch and not even know it.

The reason being I was a 20 year old Somali male this past summer who went on a trip with an itinerary that ended in Nairobi, Kenya. It is nearly impossible for the government to know if I had went into Somalia and fought for Al Shabaab like those kids because Somalia is a black hole.

Could I be under watch and not know about it?

Kinda interesting

[Xashi]

their kids could have been shot coming out of a club, at least now if they die is in ALLAH cause.

None of those kids were under the age of 15, Islamically they reached the age of manhood. Nobody should pity them if anything people should look up to them. Only wished they got their parents permission before going though.

[shaamboo]

Joe lieberman and shumacher fro NY are the worst of all they hate muslims and anything that has to do with non jew so why would these fcking somalis go infront of them and blame the masjid? i blame the parents

[ILHAN9]

Asalamu akeykum............

Ooo ma gosh, bisinka. i Feel for da parents walahi. im abit concerned about their parents aswell, WHAT if their children got sexually abused or physically. WHAT if their children disappeared because of such problems at home. WHAT IF? ...........................
I bet anyone here never thought about it, as somalian family, i know for fact they dont expose their family issues thoughout their community. FACT!!!!

WHO agrees with me ??????????????