A community member also announced his candidacy for city council today.
Members of the Minneapolis Somali community applauded the recent indictments of two Somali men on terrorism-related charges at a press conference Tuesday, emphasizing that the men acted against the views of the community.
A federal grand jury indicted in Februrary Salah Osman Ahmed of Brooklyn Park and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse of Seattle for providing support to terrorists and conspiracy to “kill, kidnap, maim or injure” people in foreign countries, though the indictments were made public only last week.
“The men left voluntarily, raised their own funds, and recruited each other [for jihad],†said Aman Obsiye , speaking on behalf of Somali Voices, a coalition of organizations claiming to represent the Somali community.
“We are happy that the facts now show that no religious institutions were involved in the recruiting of these men,†Obsiye said.
The Somali community needs to get involved in public policy in order to repair a broken government system, Hashi Shafi of the Somali Action Alliance said.
For this reason, Mahamed Cali, of the Somali American Community, plans to challenge Democrat incumbent Ward 6 councilmember Robert Lilligren this fall under Green Party endorsement, he said.
“We need to fix the public education system collectively,†Cali said, referring to the lack of bilingual classes for Somalis. “The system never put programs in place.â€
Obsiye was the endorsed Green Party candidate until June, but had to drop out for personal reasons, Green Party spokesman Dave Bicking said.
The Green Party has not officially endorsed a candidate, as no potential candidates have officially stepped forward for consideration. The party encouraged Cali to run, Bicking said.
Source: mndaily
BY Robert Downs
PUBLISHED: 07/21/2009
