US citizen held in Spain for funding al-Qaida

THE TIMES OF INDIA ^ | IANS, Sep 30, 2010, 10.57am IST | n/a

[Cindy]

SNIPPET: "BARCELONA: A US citizen was arrested in this Spanish city for sending money to al-Qaida's North African branch, police said.

Mohamed Omar Debhi, who is of Algerian descent, is accused of sending more than 60,000 euros to the al-Qaida Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is based in Algeria.

Debhi, 43, was arrested in the Esplugues de Llobregat district, where he is a resident. He also faces charges of possessing a false ID and defrauding Spanish social security services.

He is alleged to have sent money via a bank transaction to a fugitive Algerian militant named by police as Toufik Mizi."

[Cindy]

Photo:

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/topstories/2010/09/29/spain-arrest-cp9493437.jpg

[Cindy]

ON THE INTERNET:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/aqim/index

[McGavin999]

US citizen? We really do have to be more careful who we let in.

[hal ogen]

Hey...something is wrong here. Stop persecuting this innocent for just trying to help the less fortunate terrorists. Suicide belt costs have risen recently...as has the price of C4. Have some tolerance. Coexist!

[FES0844]

Keep him!

[csvset]

defrauding Spanish social security services.

Government money bankrolling the criminal's activity.

Welfare, a worldwide failure.

[AuH2ORepublican]

“US citizen? We really do have to be more careful who we let in.”

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They described the terrorist-enabler as being “of Algerian descent,” not as a native of Algeria, so I would bet that he wasn’t an Algerian who moved to the U.S. and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, but someone who was born in the U.S.

[McGavin999]

I would bet that he wasn’t an Algerian who moved to the U.S. and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, but someone who was born in the U.S.

Then we shouldn't have let his parents in.

[AuH2ORepublican]

If we adopted an immigration policy in which no one from Algeria, or no one who is a Muslim, was let in, then we could have kept his parents out. But a policy tailored to keep out persons who may one day have a son who moves to Spain and becomes an al Qaeda financial supporter would not be very effective.

We should definitely be more careful in who we let in, but it is even more important that we eliminate birthright citizenship for children of persons who are not U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents, whether through legislation approved pursuant to Section 5 of the 14th Amendment or, if the courts strike that down, through a constitutional amendment.