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Somali probe points to Minnesota man

Last update: November 24, 2009 - 10:01 PM

A Minnesota man hosted a gathering for several young Somalis days before they left Minneapolis to fight with a terrorist group in their homeland, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday in a sweeping federal investigation.

Mahamud Said Omar, 43, who is in custody in the Netherlands, is accused of being involved with many of the roughly 20 young men who left Minneapolis in waves from December 2007 through November 2008.

Omar is among 14 charged in the investigation that some terrorism experts call one of the largest of its kind.

Several individuals are accused in court documents of a mix of recruiting and raising funds for travel, and of engaging in terrorist acts in Somalia. Some allegedly attended training camps run by the group al-Shabab, which the United States says has ties to al-Qaida. All but one of the men who left the Minneapolis area are Somali.

An affidavit unsealed Tuesday alleges that the departures began with six men leaving in December 2007. Another left the following February, two more that August and another six last November. The affidavit states that before the first group left in 2007, Omar gave travel money to some "members of the conspiracy."

In January 2008, Omar allegedly went to Somalia himself, stayed at an al-Shabab safehouse for several days and provided money to purchase AK-47 assault rifles, the affidavit says. In August 2008, Omar allegedly accompanied two men bound for Somalia to the airport and that November hosted a gathering that included several young men who left for Somalia in the following days to join al-Shabab, according to court documents.

Two of Omar's brothers in Minnesota have said he is innocent of terror-related charges and is not an extremist.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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