From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Mar 10 2010 - 07:09:28 EST
Swedish foreign minister says man held in New York based on terrorism
charges is not Eritrean
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.
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