Eight charged in US-Somali youth terror network

EIGHT people face terrorism charges in the case of 20 missing young men from Minnesota who were allegedly recruited to fight for an Islamist militia in Somalia.

The young men - all but one of whom were of Somali descent - were allegedly recruited to fight in Somalia's bitter civil war, along with dozens of other young ethnic Somalis from Somalia and elsewhere in Africa, Europe and the United States.

One of the 20 men died while taking part in a series of suicide bomb attacks in northern Somalia, officials said, while four others were killed in the fighting, according to local media reports.

"The sad reality is that the vibrant Somali community here in Minneapolis has lost many of its sons to fighting in Somalia,'' US Attorney Todd Jones said in a statement.

"These young men have been recruited to fight in a foreign war by individuals and groups using violence against government troops and civilians.

"Those tempted to fight on behalf of or provide support to any designated terrorist group should know they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.''

The first group of young men disappeared from the Minneapolis area in October 2007 and the most recent group left in October 2009, the statement said.

They were recruited to join the Al-Qaeda inspired Islamist group Shebab and many ended up fighting Ethiopian forces, African Union troops and the internationally-supported Transitional Federal Government.

They were trained in the use of small arms and military-style tactics by Somali, Arab and Western instructors and were also "indoctrinated with anti-Ethiopian, anti-American, anti-Israeli and anti-Western beliefs,'' the Justice Department said.

Some of the recruiters allegedly worked out of a Minneapolis mosque where they encouraged people to fight a "jihad'' against Ethiopians, officials said.

One is accused of telling community members that he was raising money to send young to study the Koran in Saudi Arabia and then using the money to finance the trips to Somalia.

The counts unsealed Monday bring to 14 the number of people charged in the case. Charges range from lying to investigators to providing material support to terrorism and conspiring to kill, maim or injure people outside the United States.

Seven of those charged Monday are not in custody and are believed to be outside of the United States. The eighth, who is accused of providing money to transport the youth to Somalia and buy them AK-47s, currently is being held in the Netherlands.

Four Minneapolis residents have pleaded guilty in the case and two others have been released pending trial, officials said.

US officials expressed gratitude to the Somali-American community for helping with the investigation.

"I emphasize the sole focus of our efforts in this matter has been the criminal conduct of a small number of mainly Somali-American individuals and not the broader Somali-American community itself, which has consistently expressed deep concern about this pattern of recruitment activity in support of al-Shebab,'' said Ralph Boelter, who heads the Minneapolis field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Australian