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| Somali charged in plot to blow up Ohio mall |
| 2004-06-14 |
| A Somali native living in Ohio has been charged with plotting with other al-Qaeda operatives to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, according to an indictment unsealed Monday. The four-count indictment, returned by a grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, charges that Nuradin Abdi, 32, conspired with admitted al-Qaeda member Iyman Faris and others to detonate a bomb at the unidentified shopping mall after he obtained military-style training in Ethiopia. Abdi is also charged with fraud and misuse of documents by claiming that he had been granted valid asylum status in the United States. In fact, prosecutors say, he obtained that refugee document under false pretenses. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #10 Funny you mention the Irish. P.J O'Rourke went to Somalia and compared the place to Scotland without golf courses. Clans that fought over anything and everything while hopped up on Qut instead of Scotch. |
| Posted by: Yank 2004-06-15 12:02:48 AM |
| #9 What reason, Mike? To drink and fight? (Just kiddin'--I'm Paddy Famine Irish myself!) |
| Posted by: JDB 2004-06-14 10:54:08 PM |
| #8 I'd agree with Yank. Most Somalis are here for the same reason my Irish ancestors came over after the Potato Famine. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-06-14 6:18:49 PM |
| #7 Soon after 9/11 a Somali-American student at SDSU was busted by the university because he started a confrontation some Saudi Students who were laughing and talking Ill about America and boasting about Al Queda (in Arabic). That was at a time when I was waiting for the members of the Religion of Submission to speak up. He was the only one I remember and the PC university administration busted him for it. Just thought I'd mention it since not all Somali's are like the asshat in this story. |
| Posted by: Yank 2004-06-14 5:53:50 PM |
| #6 I mentioned this previously on RB - The Columbus PD has been given 'cultural awareness training' for working with Columbus's large Somali community. According to those in attendance, it was the usual thing - You know, don't question a woman directly without approval from her husband/brother/master; don't look into their eyes (that shows a lack of respect), etc. etc. By the way, the Somali's and Black residents of one apartment complex rioted and attacked each other this weekend. Can't link at the moment for details sorry. According to community leaders, it was due to 'cultural misunderstandings'. !!?? RC - you are correct. #4 - While some of the town and most of the suburbs are fine places to live and raise a family, much of the city proper has become a real shithole and could show Detroit, Philly and South Central LA a thing or two about innercity crime and racial strife. |
| Posted by: Doc8404 2004-06-14 3:43:11 PM |
| #5 There's a significant Somali refugee community on the east side of Columbus. (I'm a board member of a charity that does a lot of work in those neighborhoods.) I can understand why Somalis would want to come to the United States--who wants to live in a place like Mogadishu if you can avoid it?--but I've never quite figured out why they'd come to Columbus. Must all be Buckeye fans, I guess. What a shame that such a nice city is slowly being converted into a ghetto. Must disagree with you, Anon, on the "slowly being converted" part. The east side of Columbus is the rough part of town, but it's not because the Somalis live there. It's been that way for a good long time. When I lived there in 1989-92, there was a neighborhood known as "Uzi alley" because it was the boundary between rival gang territories and an open-air drug market. The Somalis didn't start arriving until a few years later, and the main reason they settled in the scruffy part of town is that it was all they could afford. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-06-14 3:35:57 PM |
| #4 "this community ....." Do you mean Columbus, Ohio? My husband and I went to Ohio State and back then (1981), crime was pretty much reduced to the weekend of the Ohio State-University of Michigan football game. What a shame that such a nice city is slowly being converted into a ghetto. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4617 2004-06-14 1:05:20 PM |
| #3 If I remember correctly, this community has given us an "honor" killing or two, and possibly the vandalism of a local convenience store for having the gall to sell liquor on a Friday. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-06-14 12:37:26 PM |
| #2 you are meet him to? im shuld be getting back response from him anyday now. :) |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-06-14 12:37:08 PM |
| #1 That's right, let them in, let's let them all in. Muslim immigrants? No problem. I'm sure they are all honest hard working folks with no ill intent to harm any indidel, right? Excuse me while I do mail my cheque to the nice Nigerian man I met through the internet. |
| Posted by: Crusader#6 2004-06-14 12:24:12 PM |