Another Somali-American Dies in Shabaab Attack

UPDATE: The FBI's Minneapolis Office has confirmed the identity of one of two suicide bombers involved in the attack on a Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG)military checkpoint in Mogadishu on May 30^th as Farah Mohamed Beledi.

A Somali-American already on the radar of federal authorities for ties to the Somali terror group al-Shabaab has been identified as the bomber who tried to detonate himself in Mogadishu last week, Minnesota Public Radio's Laura Yuen reports.

The man, described as 27-year-old Farah Mohamed Beledi, was identified by his step-mother, Mumina Roba, after she was shown an image from the scene of the terrorist attack that took the lives of two African Union (AU) peacekeepers and one government soldier.

The perpetrator of last Monday's attack was previously identified as 25-year-old Abdullahi Ahmed, also formerly of Minnesota, after al-Shabaab attributed the attack to him online. The group claimed that Ahmed came to Somalia from the U.S. in 2009, and that he wanted to wage the attack to avenge abuses by Christians in Muslim countries. No mention was made of Beledi in the initial reporting.

Today's report adds that AU officials believe last week's attack may have involved two people: one who "was killed before he could activate his bombs," and another who successfully detonated. It has yet to be confirmed by U.S. officials, but the bomber who failed to detonate was probably the man who was visible in pictures—and it was likely Beledi. The other man—not visible in pictures—was most likely Ahmed.

If this narrative proves to be true, it would be the first time that two Somali-Americans acted together to launch an attack on behalf of the al-Qaida-tied Somali group.

According to authorities, Farah Beledi is among more than 20 men who left Minnesota in recent years to fight for al-Shabaab. He was indicted in absentia in July 2010 for "terrorism offenses" after leaving the United States to fight with al-Shabaab and is identified by a number of evocative aliases, including "Bloody" and "Ghetto."

It is likely that Beledi's nicknames had something to do with his violent past. "[C]ourt records show Beledi pleaded guilty in 2007 to stabbing a man in the neck and his side during a soccer game at Central High School in St. Paul," Yuen notes in her report. "He served more than a year in prison, and was on supervised release until May 2009…"

After being released from prison, Beledi fell on hard times after growing increasingly estranged from his family. He began to gravitate more toward his Islamic faith, and became a regular attendee at Minneapolis' Abubaker As-Saddique mosque.

The mosque, formerly known as the Shafi'e Mosque, is thought by some local area Muslims to be playing a direct role in the radicalization of Minnesota Somali youth and the sudden increase of Minnesota-bred al-Shabaab jihadists

In an ironic twist of fate, Beledi was recorded in February 2009 defending the very mosque that may have ultimately played a role in his own radicalization from charges that it was radicalizing area youth.

"Beledi told the crowd that the mosque helped him break free of his criminal past, and gave him a new purpose in life," Yuen writes. "He defended the mosque from allegations from some community members that officials there brainwashed the young men."

"[T]he Abubakar center cannot be blamed for the missing youth (and) what they did," Farah Beledi is quoted as having said at the time.

What remains to be seen is whether the mosque did, in fact, play a role in Beledi's radicalization, and if so, if that path ultimately led to his untimely death half a world away last week.

Syria in Chaos

Syria's ambassador to France resigned on live television, in protest of a brutal crackdown on unarmed protesters in her country. The resignation may be the first crack in the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who is facing the first inklings of armed revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as diplomatic pressure from abroad.

"I can no longer continue to support the cycle of extreme violence against unarmed civilians. I can no longer ignore all those young men, women, and children who have died," said Syrian ambassador to France Lamia Chakkour, in a telephone interview for English-language television station France 24. "I recognize the legitimacy of the people's demands for more democracy and freedom ... in the face of these protests, the government response has been wrong." Later reports suggested that she recanted her decision, and threatened to sue the French station.

The violent crackdown of the Baathist regime has killed at least 1,100 since it picked up in late March. Peaceful protests have been met with live gun and tank fire, creating a refugee crisis and enormous diplomatic pressure on the Assad regime.

Armed clashes broke out between the Muslim Brotherhood and Syrian security forces in Jisr al-Shugur and a number of other villages in the Syrian north, costing the lives of 90 security members and 23 opposition activists, CNN reported. Sources also told CNN that nine government tanks and two helicopters were destroyed, allegedly with weapons smuggled over the Turkish-Syrian border.

Other reports suggest that clashes are breaking out between defecting government forces and those still loyal to the Baathist regime. While many elite military and police positions are filled by relatives of the president and those of his minority religious denomination, the Alawites, the military is conscripted from the general population. Syrian opposition has said that many of these soldiers refuse to participate in violence against their families and innocent people, by a regime that is increasingly seen as illegitimate both inside and outside Syria.

The crackdown has also led to increasing isolation of the nation from diplomats abroad. France's foreign minister Alain Juppé has promised action in the United Nations Security Council and has declared that Assad has lost his legitimacy to rule. The United States and European Union also have imposed sanctions on the senior Syrian leadership.

Second Man Pleads Guilty in N.C. Terrorism Case

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in connection with a plot to wage jihad abroad.

22-year old Zakariya "Zak" Boyd is the second defendant to enter into a guilty plea in the case of several men who plotted to wage violent jihad overseas. His father and cell ringleader Daniel Patrick Boyd pleaded guilty on Feb. 9 to one count conspiring to murder, kidnap and maim individuals in a foreign country in addition to one count of material support.

From November 2006 through July 2009, prosecutors say the Boyds conspired with others to provide currency, training, transportation and personnel to terrorists.

According to a superseding indictment, Daniel Boyd trained for battle in terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Along his journey, he met Abdullah Azzam, a mentor of the now deceased al-Qaida head Osama bin Laden. Boyd then tried to pass his radical beliefs on to his own sons.

Daniel Boyd was recorded by the FBI preaching violence to his family. He told his sons Zak and Dylan, another co-defendant, that "the blood of Muslims has become cheap…because most of the Muslims have abandoned jihad."

Zak and his father traveled to Israel in 2007, but returned one month later after failing in their attempt to engage in violent jihad. A year earlier, the indictment alleges, Boyd tried to get into Gaza "in order to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal obligation on the part of every good Muslim."

As part of their plan, Zak and Daniel Boyd practiced using military tactics and weapons on private property in Eastern North Carolina. When agents searched the Boyd home that year they found 24 guns and more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition.

"This case shows extremists in this country are just as willing to do us harm as those overseas. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will keep seeking out and stopping anyone who plans to attack the United States," said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge M. Chris Briese in a DOJ release.

Zak Boyd faces 15 years in prison at sentencing. His brother Dylan and the other remaining co-defendants are set to stand trial in September. One defendant remains at large in Pakistan.

Analyst: Iranian A-Bomb May Be Eight Weeks Away

Note: This post has been updated to correct a reference to Gregory Jones' background.

According to a new analysis from Nonproliferation Policy Education Center defense policy analyst Gregory Jones, Tehran may be just eight weeks away from being able to enrich enough uranium for a nuclear bomb. Despite reports of setbacks in its nuclear program, Iran is making steady progress towards an atomic weapon, he said.

Airstrikes are no longer sufficient to stop Iran, Jones said, and the only way to prevent it from acquiring such a weapon is through military occupation of the country. Based on his analysis of recently issued IAEA findings on Iran, Jones believes Washington and Jerusalem cannot prevent Iran from developing a nuclear warhead whenever it wants to.

Jones' analysis was made public on Monday, as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors began a weeklong meeting in Vienna, Austria, where the Iranian and Syrian nuclear programs are certain to be major topics of discussion.

IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano said Monday that the agency has "received further information related to possible past or current undisclosed nuclear activities" that Iran "may have continued until recently." Amano has also said that Iran continues to stockpile uranium in defiance of U.N. sanctions and refuses to answer questions about possible military dimensions of its nuclear program.

Washington is pressing the United Nations to declare that Tehran has been operating a nuclear weapons program and that related activities continue. For that to occur, the IAEA (a U.N. affiliate) must formally declare the Iranian program is militarily oriented - which it has yet to do.

Similarly, Washington is also expected to press for sanctions against Syria for its illicit nuclear activities. Last month, Amano said that a building at a Syrian nuclear facility destroyed by the Israeli Air Force in a September 2007 raid "was very likely a nuclear reactor and should have been declared by Syria."

Taliban Leader Vows to Hit U.S. Targets Outside Pakistan

A top Taliban commander pledged that his group will avenge the death of Osama bin Laden by attacking U.S. targets outside of Pakistan.

"Our war against America is continuing inside and outside of Pakistan," said Taliban commander Omar Khalid Khorasani in a video sent to Reuters. "When we launch attacks, it will prove that we can hit American targets outside Pakistan."

Since bin Laden was killed in a Pakistani garrison city by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs in early May, attacks by the al-Qaida linked Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), more commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, has mostly targeted Pakistani security forces - including a Peshawar police station, a Karachi naval base and a paramilitary academy.

The Taliban did attack several American consular vehicles on a Peshawar road May 20th. A bomb planted in a roadside car hit only one of those vehicles, injuring two consulate officials.

"These attacks were just a part of our revenge. God willing, the world will see how we avenge Osama bin Laden's martyrdom," said Khorasani. "We have networks in several countries outside Pakistan," he said.

It would not be the first time it has attacked American targets abroad.

The group claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of Times Square in May 2010. According to the U.S. government, failed bomber Faisal Shahzad received explosives training from the TTP in December 2009. Shahzad appeared in a TTP video during which he "discussed his plan to attack the United States and encouraged other Muslims to follow his example."

The TTP also gave Shahzad $12,000 to help finance the attack.

Similarly, the TTP was implicated in a 2009 suicide bomb attack which killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan. In response to that attack, the U.S. designated the TTP as a terrorist group on Sept. 2, 2010.

Lawsuit Seeks to Block Canadian Flotilla Group

A lawsuit filed in Toronto against the Canadian Boat to Gaza and Alternatives International claims the groups are providing material support to Hamas.

The Canadian Boat to Gaza is a member of Freedom Flotilla II, a coalition of groups planning to sail to Gaza at the end of this month to break the Israeli naval embargo on the region. It is committed to "supporting the Hamas rulers of Gaza by importing and exporting goods from the terrorist-ruled territory," the complaint says.

Alternatives International, which reportedly received millions of dollars from the Canadian government, is "the self-professed fundraiser and trustee for the Canadian Boat," the lawsuit says. Backers say it is the first litigation aimed at stopping flotilla participants from continuing to raise money for the effort. It also seeks $1 million in damages.

Cherna Rosenberg, a citizen of both Canada and Israel, filed the case in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday. Rosenberg, who moved to Sderot, Israel in 2007, has been victimized by constant Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza carried out by Hamas. Sderot and surroundiung areas have been the target of rocket attacks from Hamas since 2001. The attacks have killed Israeli civilians, and have caused trauma and property damage in Sderot and the surrounding area.

Rosenberg moved from Sderot to Haifa in 2008 to escape the constant fear and anxiety that permeated her life in the region. She frequently visits her daughter and grandchildren who still live in Sderot, which is regularly accompanied by rockets falling, increasing her trauma, the lawsuit says.

"The trauma of living under Hamas rockets, whose existence is supported and facilitated by the acts of the Defendants, has made the Plaintiff's life in Israel and in Ontario a continuous trauma from which she suffers substantial personal loss," the complaint says.

Canada listed Hamas as a terrorist group in 2002. Directly providing Hamas authorities in Gaza with supplies violates the Canadian Criminal Code. The flotilla supporters "are a step in the chain of conduct that ultimately leads to the rocket attacks that have traumatized the Plaintiff and caused her much suffering and loss," the complaint says.

Iranian Support in D.C.

Supporters marked the 22^nd anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death last weekend, and Iran's state-run PressTV made sure to cover a gathering held in Washington, D.C.

"He made the mighty, great United States seem like the paper tiger," said Shakurah Mateen, an American Muslim who attended a ceremony at the Iranian Interest Section.

PressTV reporter Marjan Asi said Khomeini left behind "a legacy of Muslim unity and active resistance to oppression. A legacy which continues to resonate with Muslims today."

Afeef Khan, an area activist, called Khomeini "a breath of fresh air who came completely from an Islamic background, was not tainted by any Western ideological orientations or Western forms of governance."

The public display of support for Khomeini and the Iranian regime is not new. There are religious leaders with a long record of support for them and law enforcement officials have described one group – the Muslim Students Association, Persian Speaking Group (MSA-PSG) as an arm of the Iranian government for "low-level intelligence and technical expertise."

One FBI report, obtained by the Investigative Project pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that participants at a 1987 MSA-PSG conference in Dallas pledged allegiance to the Iranian government and handed out literature written by Khomeini.

While there is no indication of any such pledge last weekend, the PressTV account shows that Khomeini maintains a following among some Muslims, even those too young to remember him alive. "Imam Khomeini has taught me as, like, a younger Muslim, how to stand up for what I believe in," said Zahra Mehrabi. "Not only did he start the Islamic revolution in Iran, but it was more importantly it was an Islamic revolution. And it basically showed all Muslims now mourn his death and celebrate his birthday and celebrate the revolution of Iran just because it was more of an Islamic uprising."

Palestinians Rioters Try to Infiltrate Israel in Protest

Israel is accusing Syria of inflating casualty figures from Sunday's border skirmish after hundreds of Palestinians stormed the Israeli border with Syria to commemorate the 1967 Six Day War with Israel.

Israeli soldiers shouted warnings in Arabic asking the protesters to refrain from crossing the Israeli-Syrian border in two locations, but their calls were ignored. Rioters threw gasoline bombs, which started a fire and set off four land mines on the Syrian side of the border, causing injuries.

On Sunday evening, approximately 100 protesters threw rocks at Israeli officers. Israeli police responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd, resulting in the arrest of several demonstrators. Syria claimed that a total of 23 activists were killed and 350 wounded. All casualties were on the Syrian side of the border.

Israeli officials say those figures are exaggerated to deflect attention from Syria's brutal repression of anti-government protests targeting the Assad regime. Reports indicate 35 people were killed by government forces during the weekend.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) investigation into the clashes found that troops limited their use of sniper fire, and a number of the protesters were killed when they set off an anti-tank minefield after throwing Molotov cocktails. The IDF expressed skepticism at the Syrian death toll figure, and accused the Syrian government of creating a deliberate provocation to divert world attention away from its repression at home.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the IDF acted to minimize casualties and Israel "will act according to our right to protect our border."

The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Sunday calling for restraint, saying Sunday's violence at the border was troubling. "Israel, like any sovereign nation, has a right to defend itself," it added.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed "deep concern" over the clashes in a statement Monday and condemned "the use of violence and all actions intended to provoke violence."

The Reform Syria opposition website said the protesters were poor farmers who were paid $1,000 by the Syrian regime to come to the border, and that Syria promised $10,000 to the families of anyone killed.

Hizballah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said the protests "show the efforts of the US administration to hijack the Arab revolutions," during a speech he delivered on Monday praising Imam Sayed Ali Khamenei. Nasrallah related the Imam's predictions that the U.S. is nearing collapse and Israel's demise is very soon.

Hamas also praised the protesters, and called on them to continue their efforts.

Yemen's Senior Leadership Departs

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has left his nation - but not his leadership position - to receive medical care for wounds sustained in the bombing of his presidential palace, according to Al-Arabiya English. It remains unclear whether Saleh's departure along with other senior leaders will head off a looming civil war in the failed state.

Saudi sources claim that the Yemeni president was more seriously wounded in the bombing than previously admitted. Saleh underwent chest surgery to remove a piece of shrapnel lodged near his heart, and will undergo cosmetic surgery for burns to his neck and face.

This contradicts claims by the Yemeni government that Saleh was not seriously wounded. "After the attack, officials had promised repeatedly that Saleh would appear in public soon, but eight hours later state TV aired only an audio message from the president, showing an old photo of him on screen," Russia Today reported.

Yemen's government has also not budged on opposition calls for the president to resign, and say that Saleh will be back after receiving treatment. "Saleh is still the legitimate ruler of Yemen," said Deputy Information Minister Abdu al-Janadi. "Power transfer will be done in a democratic way." Thousands of protesters, however, cheered Saleh's departure.

Yemeni Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has been appointed acting president in Saleh's absence. Opposition leaders claim that Hadi has offered to withdraw troops from a flashpoint in a Sanaa neighborhood, to lift roadblocks in the capital, and to compromise to avoid the looming civil war. Despite the claims, government troops bombarded the house of an Al-Ahmar tribal leader, who was suspected of involvement in the bombing of the presidential palace.

Senior Terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri Killed

An 'operational commander' allied with al-Qaida was reported killed in a drone strike Friday in the tribal areas of Pakistan, according to the nation's interior minister and a statement from the terrorist organization. Ilyas Kashmiri's militia pledged revenge for the attack, the second major strike on al-Qaida in as many months.

"On behalf of Harkatat ul-Jihad al-Islami 313 Brigade we confirm the fact that our leader and Commander-in-chief Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, along with other companions, have been martyred in an American drone attack at 11:15 pm on June 3, 2011," declared a statement from his militia. "Insha Allah [Allah willing] the present pharaoh America will see our full revenge very soon. Our only target is America."

The Taliban made similar threats of vengeance for the "martyrdom" of the terrorist leader. "We lost our hero finally. He was the hero of Islam, Kashmir and Afghanistan," Taliban commander Qari Idrees told reporters in a broken voice.

Kashmiri had been responsible for plotting a variety of attacks, ranging from the 2008 Mumbai massacre to a plan to strike drone-making American company Lockheed-Martin. His also participated in a 2006 bombing on the U.S. consulate in Karachi and a January 2010 plot to bomb a Danish newspaper that published Muhammad cartoons.

In August 2010, he was declared a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the State Department, and had been known for his trademark aviator-style sunglasses which masked a missing eye. The United States also put a $5 million bounty for information leading to his location.

Self-confessed Mumbai plotter David Coleman Headley testified in federal court last week that he had researched details about Lockheed Martin and its CEO for Kashmiri, who was enraged by American predator strikes in Pakistan and wanted to attack the U.S. defense contractor in retaliation.

Headley is the key prosecution witness in the ongoing terrorism trial of a Chicago businessman, Tahawuur Hussain Rana. He used Rana's immigration office in Mumbai as a cover to scout for targets for the Mumbai attacks for Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT). Headley has pleaded guilty to his role in the attacks and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators to avoid the death penalty.

Kashmiri, along with other Lashkar militants and officers from Pakistan's military spy agency, the ISI, are co-defendants in the case.

The success of the strike is being measured against public outrage in Pakistan, which objects to American counterterrorism efforts on its soil. Relations with the Pakistani military have also soured over the killing of Osama bin Laden, who had been hiding for years just a few hundred meters away from Pakistan's elite military academy.

India, a victim of Pakistan's reluctance to deal with domestic terrorists, saluted the killing of Kashmiri. "Kashmiri's death (in a US drone attack) will affect the terrorist infrastructure across the border and it will have a significant effect here," India's state inspector general of police SM Sahai told the Hindustan Times.

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