San Diego: Material Support for Terrorism Trial of Somali Muslims Goes to Jury
The San Diego trial of four Somali immigrants charged with raising money and providing help to the terrorist group al-Shabaab largely boils down to who jurors believe is on the other end of numerous phone calls the government secretly taped five years ago.
The three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller wrapped up Tuesday with daylong closing arguments by both sides. The case centers on a series of phone calls made by the four men and a handful of money transfers made from San Diego to war-torn Somalia that total about $8,500.
Federal prosecutors said the money was sent to help al-Shabaab, a group the U.S. designated as a terrorist organization in early 2008, saying it is responsible for bombings, assassinations, attacks on peacekeeping troops and thwarting attempts to establish a stable government in Somalia.
If found guilty of providing material support to a terrorist organization, the men face sentences of 15 years to life in prison.
The defendants are Basaaly Moalin, a cabdriver who prosecutors said was the main point of contact between the fundraising in San Diego and the al-Shabaab fighters; Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, the imam of a City Heights mosque; Issa Doreh, a worker at the money transfer business the defendants used; and Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud, a cabdriver from Anaheim.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/19/federal-court-terrorism-trial-Somalis/
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