St. Paul, Minn. — A Twin Cities man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Minneapolis on charges that he was involved with an alleged conspiracy to arm Minnesota fighters in Somalia with assault weapons.

Prosecutors allege Omer Abdi Mohamed was part of a conspiracy to provide AK-47 assault rifles to three Twin Cities men accused of traveling to Somalia in 2007 to fight or train alongside the extremist group al-Shabaab. At the time, the rebels were attacking the Ethiopian military, which was in Somalia to support the country’s faltering government.

The United States has since labeled al-Shabaab a terrorist group.

Mohamed was earlier indicted on terrorism-related charges. Investigators believe he helped recruit and facilitate the first wave of fighters from Minnesota to Somalia.

But Mohamed’s attorney, Peter Wold, said the charges are not true.

“He has nothing to do with guns” — or terrorism, Wold said.

Mohamed is on electronic monitoring while awaiting his trial on July 19.

___

MPR

Comments

comments