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From: Biniam Tesfaldet (biniamtesfaldet@gmail.com)
Date: Mon Mar 15 2010 - 18:50:06 EST
*Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed: Eritrean or Ethiopian?*
Reports of the indictment in New York City last week of an Eritrean national
named Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed <http://www.ww4report.com/node/8431> on charges
of aiding the Shabab have sparked controversy. While most media sources,
citing the federal indictment, name the suspect as an Eritrean, the foreign
ministry in his former home of Sweden asserts that he is originally
Ethiopian. As he holds a permanent Swedish residence permit, Ahmed has a
right to consular help from Sweden while on trial in New York, but the
Foreign Ministry says that he has yet to receive such a request. (Radio
Sweden<http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/artikel.asp?ProgramID=2054&format=1&artikel=3498493>,
March 10)
Swedish Resident Charged with Terrorism in US Court
[image: Photo: Farah Abdi Warsameh / SCANPIX]
al-Shabab fighters training in Mogadishu
An Ethiopian man living permanently in Sweden has been charged with
conspiracy to commit terrorist acts by a court in New York. According to the
Swedish Foreign Ministry, he was captured in the end of November in Nigeria,
and was later moved to a United States prison on Saturday.
The New York Times reports that he is suspected of financing al-Shabab, a
Somali terrorist organization that has connections to Al-Qaeda. He is also
said to have received military training in an al-Shabab camp, learning how
to construct explosive charges.
Sabrina Schroff, the man’s lawyer in the United States, says that the
Ethiopian native denies all the accusations. The New York Times identifies
him as Eritrean, but the Swedish Foreign Minister holds that he is
originally from Ethiopia.
Anders Jörle at the Ministry confirms the rest of the newspaper’s report,
however. He told news agency TT that the man has been visited by embassy
personnel two times while in prison in Nigeria, where he was initially
charged with being in the country illegally and trying to obtain a false
identity.
As he holds a permanent Swedish residence permit, the suspected terrorist
has a right to consular help from Sweden while on trial in New York, but the
Foreign Ministry says that he has yet to receive such a visit.
© *Copyright Sveriges Radio 2010*