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Americans Recruited to Join Al-Qaeda-Linked Somali Terrorists

(New York Times) Andrea Elliott - Federal officials on Monday unsealed terrorism-related charges against eight new suspects they say were key actors in a recruitment effort that led young Americans to join al-Shabaab, a violent insurgent group in Somalia with ties to al-Qaeda. The recruitment operation largely focused on Somali-American men from the Minneapolis area. The recruits attended training camps in Somalia run by Somali, Arab and Western instructors, who taught them to use machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades and indoctrinated them with anti-American and anti-Israeli beliefs, according to court documents. There are indications that enlistment continues. Last month, the Nevada Highway Patrol stopped a rental car carrying five young Somali men who said they were en route to a wedding in San Diego. A lawyer with knowledge of the case said three of the men soon crossed the Mexican border, en route to an airport.
2009-11-24 08:13:26
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