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American Al Qaeda In Somalia Hold Press Conference Posted: 05 Apr 2009 11:57 PM PDT Photo Credit - Intelcenter Two young Americans who left their homes to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia held a rare “press conference” in Southern Somalia on Monday, saying they want to be killed “for the sake of God,” according to a U.S. law enforcement official and a video posted on a Somali news Web site. For several months the FBI has been investigating at least 20 Somali-American men from the Minneapolis area and elsewhere in the United States who traveled to war-torn Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006. Last month, a source familiar with the FBI investigation told FOX News that “several” of the men had returned to the United States, while others “are still there [in Somalia].” Today is the first time any of these men have spoken publicly. “We came from the U.S. with a good life and a good education, but we came to fight alongside our brothers of al-Shabaab … to be killed for the sake of God,” one man said in the video, as translated by Omar Jamal, the executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn. In the video, two men, identifying themselves as Abu-Muslim and Abu Yaxye, say they are “Somali youth” from the United States who are now stationed near the city of Kismayo, more than 300 miles southwest of Mogadishu, according to Jamal. The men say they are talking to media for the first time so others can learn why they joined al-Shabaab, he said. A spokesman from the FBI Field Office in Minneapolis, E.K. Wilson, said he is “aware of the video,” which was posted on the Web site dowladnimo.com. He said the video was first brought to his office’s attention early Sunday. Source - Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Share this post

NYPD Secures Synagogues Against Retaliation Should Israeli Attack Iran Posted: 05 Apr 2009 11:32 PM PDT The New York Police Department has put together a response plan that includes deploying extra officers, including heavily armed Hercules Teams, at synagogues, Jewish community centers and Israel diplomatic offices, out of concern that Muslim extremists might retaliate if Israel should attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Similar precautions were taken last year after Hizballah commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in Damascus, for which the Lebanese terrorists blamed Israel. “Just in case there was some kind of retaliation in New York, we had an operational plan that was implemented within hours of knowing he was hit,” Mitch Silber, a top NYPD intelligence analyst, said Friday at a briefing about security measures for the Jewish holiday of Passover at the largest Jewish population outside Israel. There have been no specific threats reported against the city for the weeklong holiday which starts at sundown Wednesday, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said: More than seven years after 9/11 “we know that counterterrorism is now a permanent part of our mission.” Several months earlier, two Iranian citizens were questioned while taking video images of the subway tracks. The pair claimed diplomatic immunity and were never charged. via DEBKAfile - NYPD secures synagogues against Muslim retaliation should Israeli attack Iran. This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Share this post

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