"We have nothing to do with these kids..."
"A lot of young people just come to the mosque to do their homework ... or sometimes to just sit with their friends," he said. "It's normal for us."
That's why one of them was returned from Somalia in pieces, I'm sure. The Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic mos-que-teers plan on holding another press conference today to deny having anything to do with jihad. (Sing along with me now: "Da da-da da-da da-da da - Taquiyah!")
From the Star Tribune:
In some of the strongest language to date, the director of a Minneapolis mosque has again rebuffed rumors that its leaders could be connected to the recent disappearances of up to a dozen young Somali men.
"We have nothing to do with these kids who left," Farhan Hurre, director of the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center in south Minneapolis, said Monday. "I mean, we don't know the time they left, we don't why they left, we don't know who convinced them to go there. We don't know if somebody financed them or is working with them. We just don't know."
Refugee Resettlement Watch has picked up the latest human interest story from the Star Tribune profiling one more of the lost boys. (Making us think we're supposed to feel sorry for them and their families? Nice try, Strib.) But something just doesn't ring true with their story. First, there's this amazing coincidence: everytime there's a press conference about the Lost Boys, guess what happens? There's a call from a lost boy.
"To this date, there has never been anything specific to indicate that Abubakar recruits or that anybody at Abubakar said to these young men, 'Go fight Jihad,'" Sherif said.
But Mustafa's older brother, Deeq, 22, and some of his relatives perceive a link.
The family's suspicions were fueled again last week when Mustafa called home. In all the time he has been gone, Mustafa has called home only twice, his family said. Both calls came on days that Somali leaders in Minneapolis had scheduled news conferences to talk about the missing men.
"I'm 100 percent sure that there are people in there who have influenced him and those people are claiming to be sheiks," Deeq said.
First, if this was my kid I would be over there banging on the hatch of that mosque so fast their turbans would whirl. Not this family. They seem afraid of confronting the Imams...and are worried about 'spiritual consequences'.
"I want to go over there and confront them," Deeq said of the leaders of the Abubakar mosque, where Mustafa spent much of his spare time. Deeq said he hasn't gone out of respect for his mother, who told him that it would reflect badly on the family and possibly have spiritual consequences."
And then there's this about the lost boy's best friend:
Deeq said his parents have spoken with the relatives of Mustafa's best friend. "That kid's family, they don't tell us anything," Deeq said. "They keep us in the dark."
Lost boy Mustafa is still keeping them in the dark, too.
Mustafa's first call came in early December, but no one was home. Speaking Somali, he left a brief message.
The second call, which lasted only a few minutes, came last week, an hour before local Somali leaders canceled a news conference about the missing men.
"He was laughing, joking. He was trying to put a smile on our faces," Deeq said.
But Mustafa, speaking only Somali, wasn't telling them everything, the family believes. They didn't push him on how or why he left or where he was, Ali said, because they feared Mustafa was being monitored.
"We don't ask him things because we understand immediately that this is not a private conversation between us and him," Ali said.
He told his mother he "missed his life and his school" and expressed concern for his family and "the consequences of his actions," Deeq said.
He said nothing about whether he might return.
Excuse me? You don't ask him questions because you 'understand immediately that this is not a private conversation...'
Are you out of your freaking minds??? I would be coming through the phone at this little shi%. So would any red-blooded American...you'd think.
Clearly the Lost Boys have contact with local Somali leaders - how else would they know about the press conferences? And why would the families be afraid to confront the mosque leaders? Isn't Islam a religion of peace?
Meanwhile the mosque is spinning like a dervish, hiring an attorney from California, some character named Mahir Sharif, who claims it's largely a matter of coincidence and circumstance that the missing boys are linked to the mosque. Here's a quote:
"What's the national security concern for lying about your child?"
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