{Accused Student}Warsame Fought For Taliban {and Trained al-Qaida}

Associated Press ^ | February 10, 2004 | Chris Williams

[wallcrawlr]

A man accused of providing support to al-Qaida trained in martial arts and with weapons, taught English to al-Qaida members and even joined the Taliban front lines, according to an FBI affidavit.

Terror suspect Mohammed Warsame, 30, twice saw combat with front line units of the Taliban while in Afghanistan and once sat next to Osama bin Laden at a meal, said the affidavit, which investigators said was based on interviews with Warsame.

``The defendant stated that bin Laden was very inspirational,'' according to the affidavit from FBI Special Agent Kiann Vandenover.

Prosecutors argued Monday that Warsame, a Somali with Canadian citizenship, is a flight risk and should remain in jail while his court case proceeds. U.S. Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel later ordered him held pending trial, without bail.

Warsame pleaded not guilty at the hearing to a single charge of providing support to a terrorist organization, but otherwise did not speak.

Warsame, who was arrested in Minneapolis in December, has been willing to leave the United States in the past and might do so if released from custody, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ward.

The new affidavit sheds the most light yet on the government's case against Warsame.

Investigators say he acknowledged traveling to Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001. In early 2001, they say, Warsame asked al-Qaida for money to move his family to Afghanistan.

According to the affidavit, an al-Qaida leader instead paid for Warsame's airplane ticket back to North America, and gave him $1,700 in travel money.

Warsame stayed in contact with people he met in the training camps and admitted wiring money to them via a bank account in Pakistan.

Dan Scott, Warsame's public defender, argued that Warsame is not a flight risk, saying he has deep ties to Minnesota through his wife and 5-year-old daughter. And he said Warsame should be released because he has been held in solitary since his arrest, with no telephone calls, books or religious materials.

Warsame's only contact has been with his attorneys, Scott said, adding that he thought it would take about a year for the case to go to trial.

``I fear for his mental health,'' said Scott, the chief federal public defender for Minnesota.

He also rejected the idea that Warsame is currently heavily involved with al-Qaida.

``At no point has he shown himself to be persistently active with a terrorist organization,'' Scott said.

Warsame has been living in Minnesota since 2002. He was attending community college at the time of his arrest.

[wallcrawlr]

I dont see any threads on this scum...this story should be known.

[cavtrooper21]

Tree + Rope + Terrorist = Good Terrorist

[MonroeDNA]

bump!

[japaneseghost]

<>i>A man accused of providing support to al-Qaida trained in martial arts and with weapons, taught English to al-Qaida members and even joined the Taliban front lines, according to an FBI affidavit.

So what exactly was he doing in a Comm. College? Any explanations, pls?