Somali held as material witness in terror case sent to New York

By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press Writer

December 23, 2003, 7:44 PM EST


MINNEAPOLIS -- A Somali man who was being held here as a material witness in an unspecified terrorism-related investigation was flown to New York on Tuesday, his lawyer said.

Dan Scott, the chief federal public defender for Minnesota, said he was with Mohammed Warsame at the Hennepin County Jail when federal marshals came to take him away Tuesday afternoon. He said he assumed authorities planned to fly Warsame directly to New York but didn't know that for certain.

Scott said he expected that Warsame would appear before a federal judge in New York either Wednesday or Friday. Warsame made a brief appearance Dec. 16 here before Magistrate Judge J. Earl Cudd.

Warsame's case has been shrouded in secrecy since he was arrested Dec. 8. He hasn't been charged with a crime. He's being held as a material witness, but federal authorities have refused to publicly explain why, or even confirm he was being held.

News reports have linked Warsame to terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui, but Scott said he still couldn't comment on them because the information in the case remains sealed.

Moussaoui was arrested while learning to fly a Boeing 747 jet at an Eagan flight simulator school two years ago and is the subject of the only U.S. prosecution related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Warsame's wife, Fartun Farah, has said she doesn't know whether her husband knows Moussaoui.

Warsame, 30, a Canadian citizen of Somali descent, had been living in Minneapolis and was a student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. His arrest and the secrecy have aroused concern in the local Somali community, which numbers an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 and is believed to be the largest in the United States.

Scott commented before speaking about the case at a meeting of about 70 members of the Somali community. The meeting was closed to reporters.

Prosecutors can keep material witnesses in custody indefinitely for questioning as long as a judge agrees.

"It's an affront to civil rights," said Larry Leventhal, a local civil rights attorney who attended the meeting and has been helping with the case. He said the law wasn't meant to allow authorities to hold a witness indefinitely.

Omar Jamal, head of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center who has acted as a liaison to Warsame's family, said his group is working with the Somali community in New York to find an attorney there to represent Warsame.