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In early December of last year [2003] , FBI agents confronted Warsame and arrested him as a material witness against al Qaeda. ...Warsame's arrest was supposed to be secret. But within days stories appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the case — dashing the government's hopes of gaining greater insight into al Qaeda activities against the United States. Federal officials were furious about the apparent leak, and the Justice Department has launched an investigation to determine how the information about Warsame's arrest leaked to the media.
Senior officials told ABCNEWS they are very concerned about the implications of the leak.
Government agents believe that Warsame, a 30-year-old Canadian citizen, was a potentially dangerous al Qaeda agent, sent to live quietly in downtown Minneapolis.
Law enforcement officials suspect Warsame has ties to accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Fazul Mohammed, suspected of being a key planner of the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa. Authorities believe Fazul Mohammed is still on the run.
...The FBI said Warsame told agents he once sat next to bin Laden at a meal, and found the al Qaeda leader to be "inspirational." The affidavit said that "he [Warsame] was instructed by al Qaeda to return to North America and that al Qaeda paid the costs of his return." The group provided Warsame with $1,700 in travel money.
--- "Double Agent Plan : U.S. Attempt to Turn Al Qaeda Suspect Into U.S. Informant Soured by Press Leak ," By Pierre Thomas , abc ^ | 2/13/04, Posted on 02/13/2004 8:15:05 PM PST by knak

Additional Article:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/05/05/warsame_al_qaeda_members/

“Attorneys for alleged terror supporter want to talk to al-Qaeda members”
by Elizabeth Stawicki, Minnesota Public Radio
May 5, 2009

St. Paul, Minn. —

SNIPPET: “The defendant, Mohamed Warsame, is a Canadian citizen of Somali descent who lived in Minneapolis in 2002.

The federal government charged Warsame with providing material support to al-Qaeda after he left Canada to attend two terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

SNIPPET: “Warsame’s attorneys want to talk to some-al Qaeda members, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks, because they were unable to identify Warsame by photo or name.

The defense will also ask for Warsame’s conditional release.”