nationalsecuritylaw United States v. Moalin (S.D. Cal. Nov. 2, 2010)

* United States v. Moalin (S.D. Cal. Nov. 2, 2010) (indictment relating to al Shabaab)

From the press release; the indictment is attached:

SAN DIEGO – San Diego residents Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, aka Mohamed Khadar, and Issa Doreh were charged today with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country and related offenses, announced U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Laura E. Duffy.

According to the indictment, handed up on Oct. 22, 2010, and unsealed today, Moalin, Mohamud and Doreh conspired to provide money to al-Shabaab, a violent and brutal militia group in Somalia. In February 2008, the Department of State designated al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization. The indictment alleges that al-Shabaab has used assassinations, improvised explosive devices, rockets, mortars, automatic weapons, suicide bombings and other tactics of intimidation and violence to undermine Somalia’s transitional federal government and its supporters.

The indictment further alleges that, in late 2007 and early 2008, Moalin was in direct telephone contact with Aden Hashi Ayrow, who was a prominent military leader of al-Shabaab. Ayrow requested money from Moalin, who then coordinated the fund-raising efforts and money transfers with Mohamud and Doreh. According to the indictment, Moalin also provided a house in Somalia, knowing the house would be used in preparation for, and to carry out, a conspiracy to kill persons in a foreign country. The indictment alleges that after Ayrow’s death on May 1, 2008, the conspirators continued to transfer money from San Diego to Somalia to fund terrorist activities.

With the assistance of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, special agents of the FBI arrested Moalin on Oct. 31, 2010, at San Diego International Airport, shortly before Moalin was scheduled to board a flight. On Nov. 1, 2010, agents arrested Mohamud and Doreh, also in San Diego.

On Nov. 2, 2010, U.S. Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo arraigned Moalin on the indictment and ordered him held without bail pending a detention hearing scheduled for Nov. 5, 2010. Mohamud and Doreh are expected to appear before Judge Gallo on Nov. 3, 2010, for arraignment.

moalin.pdf

By Robert M. Chesney

Robert M. Chesney is Charles I. Francis Professor in Law at UT-Austin School of Law. Chesney is a national security law specialist, with a particular interest in problems associated with terrorism. Professor Chesney recently served in the Justice Department in connection with the Detainee Policy Task Force created by Executive Order 13493. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, a senior editor for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, an associate member of the Intelligence Science Board, a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Chesney has published extensively on topics ranging from detention and prosecution in the counterterrorism context to the states secrets privilege. He served previously as chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools and as editor of the National Security Law Report (published by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security). His upcoming projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press, one concerning the evolution of detention law and policy and the other examining the judicial role in national security affairs.

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