Somali Nationals Residing In U.S. Found Guilty of Supporting Terrorist Operations

Four Somali nationals residing in the United States have been found guilty of supporting terrorist operations in their home country of Somali. Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, Ahmed Nasiri Taalil Mohamud, and Issa Doreh were found guilty of financing the Islamic terrorist organization, Al-Shabaab, on Friday, February 20, 2013. Al-Shabaab is an organization that aims to overthrow and supplant the Somali government, in an effort to impose stricter for of sharia law: a strict Islamic set of religious laws and guidelines. The men, namely Moalin, had extensive communication with Aden Hashi Ayrow, the former leader of Al-Shabaab, until Ayrow was killed by a U.S. missile strike in 2008. Moalin also kept a house in Somali’s capital of Mogadishu, and had offered its use to the terrorist group’s members. The defendants originally claimed that the communications between themselves and Ayrow were simply discussions regarding charity work that the defendants had performed. Upon hearing the content of the phone calls, the jury found the defendants guilty. The sentencing for Moalin, Mohamed Mohamud, Taalil Mohamud, and Doreh has been set for May 16, 2013.

Source: Jake Depew, Assistant Editor