October 12, 2009

American Arrested Trying to Join al Qaeda's Somalia Affiliate


American Omar Hammami (aka, Shiekh Abu Monsoor al-Amriki) as seen on an al Shabaab propaganda video. He is one of dozens of Americans who have traveled to Somalia to join that nation's al Qaeda affiliate.
We only have a Reuters report on this for now, and their sources are Kenyan, which means less than 100% reliability. However, if it pans out that an American was arrested trying to cross the border into Shabaab controlled areas of Somalia, then the implication is that he was going there to join the terrorist group.

Good thing the Kenyans caught him, but how many more haven't been caught?

And even more troubling than the ones who aren't caught entering into Somalia are the ones returning home to the U.S. from Somalia.

Reuters:

An American man has been arrested in northern Kenya while trying to enter an area of Somalia controlled by Islamist insurgents, police and residents said on Monday....

The U.S. national had said he was a Muslim and denied any connection to Islamic radicals who make up the bulk of the insurgency in Somalia, said the witness.

Nah, he was just going there for the long weekend. A much needed and deserved autumn break. I hear the colors of the fall foliage are a sight to behold in Mogadishu! It's like the Vermont of Africa.

It's either that, or he wanted to become a pirate....

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 12:22 PM | |