Somalia Detains US Suspect on FBI Watch List

Officials in the United States say a U.S. citizen who fled the country more than two years ago and who recently was placed on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list is now in custody in Somalia.

Officials say Liban Haji Mohamed was arrested recently in Somalia.  It is not clear how he was taken into custody or whether he will be sent back to the United States.

The FBI said in January it added Mohamed, who is a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen, to its watch list. The FBI said Mohamed allegedly provided support to the Somali-based Islamist group al-Shabab as well as al-Qaida. It said he was also a recruiter and radicalized for al-Shabab, a group the United States designates as a terrorist organization.

Mohamed lived in a northern Virginia suburb of Washington and drove a taxi. FBI officials said he would have knowledge of U.S. government buildings, Washington airports and the area’s subway system.

Mohamed left the United States in 2012. The Washington Post reports U.S. law enforcement had been trying to track Mohamed before he slipped of the country.

The FBI had offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Mohamed’s arrest and conviction.

Source: VOA