Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed an indictment March 8 accusing a suspect brought to the US from Nigeria, Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed, of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization—al-Shabab, the main insurgent army in Somalia [2]. Ahmed, 35 of Eritrea [3], is also charged with providing that support, conspiring to receive training from a foreign terrorist organization, and receiving the training.
The indictment charges that in 2009 he bought a Kalashnikov rifle and two grenades, and provided about 3,000 euros (about $4,470) to al-Shabab. The indictment also states that he received training at Shabab camps in Somalia.
The State Department designated al-Shabab a terrorist organization in 2008. Last year, the group claimed responsibility for a mortar attack [4] aimed at a Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-NJ), who was visiting Somalia. Ahmed's indictment also states that members of al-Shabab and the affiliated Islamic Courts Union are thought to have provided a haven to al-Qaeda [5] members wanted for the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania [6]. (NYT [7], March 8)
See our last post on Horn of Africa [2].
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