US national charged with attempting to join Somali group with links to Al-Qaeda

Officials said Chesser sought to use his infant son as cover so no one would suspect he was travelling to Africa to join the Shebab, which earlier this month claimed suicide bombings that killed 76 people in Uganda.

Al-Shebab - who are they? Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al-Shebab's spokesman Reuters Al-Shebab, or the Youth, is the more commonly known name for Harakat Al-Shebab al-Mujahideen, the Movement of Warrior Youth. They are believed to be the largest group among several Islamist militias battling the transitional government in Somalia. The group is said to control most of the southern and central parts of the country, including a large swath of the capital, Mogadishu, where it has imposed its own harsh form of Sharia law. The group was formerly the military wing of the deposed Islamic Court Union (ICU) that controlled much of central and southern Somalia in late 2006. The ICU splintered into several smaller groups after its removal from power by Ethiopian troops in support of the largely powerless UN-backed interim government. Al-Shebab describes itself as waging jihad against the “enemies of Islam” and is engaged in combat against the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom). It has declared war on the UN and on Western NGOs that distribute food aid in Somalia. Al-Shebab, which murdered 42 relief workers between 2008 and 2009, is reported to be tied to al-Qaeda, which its leaders denied until early 2010.

First interviewed by the FBI in May 2009 about jihadist Internet postings, Chesser was under surveillance when he tried to board a flight to Uganda with his son on July 10 at New York's JFK airport. Denied check-in and told he was on a no-fly list, the suspect
was then allowed to remain at large until his arrest on Wednesday.

"This case exposes the disturbing reality that extreme radicalization can happen anywhere, including Northern Virginia," said US Attorney Neil MacBride.

"This young man is accused of seeking to join the Shebab, a brutal terrorist organization with ties to Al-Qaeda. These allegations underscore the need for continued vigilance against home-grown terror threats."

A search of Chesser's house in June uncovered a journal in which he stated his intention to join the Shebab and detailed an earlier failed bid to reach Somalia, in November, via Kenya.

Following a spate of attacks or near misses - at the Fort Hood military base last year and in Times Square, New York in May - President Barack Obama's administration has had to refocus national security on home-grown extremists.

"We can't fight terrorists alone," FBI assistant director Shawn Henry said in a statement on Wednesday on Chesser's arrest. "Religious leaders of all faiths, family members and
particularly the younger members of our communities need to speak up and speak out against individuals who participate in actions like those alleged here."