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By Cynthia Banham and Freya Petersen
San Diego, February 19, 2004 (f2Network) – An arrest warrant for Omar
Mohamed, the Somali man allegedly linked to a terrorist financing
group, was issued by a San Diego court while he was still in Australia
in December.
Court documents from the US District Court in California - where
Mohamed was arrested in January after returning from Australia and
prosecuted for immigration fraud - show he was refused bail because he
was a flight risk.
The Federal Government has come under fire from the Opposition over
the Mohamed affair, with ASIO admitting this week it did not know of
the man until reading a media report last month.
Mohamed, 44, has visited Australia five times since December 2000. He
has a wife and children here, and a wife and six children in the US.
Court documents show he travels extensively, including to Saudi Arabia
and Africa.
He is said to have "extensive contacts and family" in Australia, Saudi
Arabia, Canada and Kenya.
He earns $US10-$US12 ($12.51-$15) an hour as a teacher's instructional
aide. He also receives $US1700 per month from the Saudi Arabian
Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
Mohamed's immigration charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty,
relate to the making of false statements on immigration and
naturalisation applications. He was granted permanent residency in the
US in 1995 and applied for naturalisation in 2000.
Mohamed is accused of having claimed that his organisation, the
Western Somali Relief Agency, never received funds when it is alleged
to have received over $350,000 from the Global Relief Foundation.
That group, which has links with al-Qaeda, was listed as a terrorist
organisation by the US after the September 11 attacks.
A grand jury has found "probable cause" to believe Mohamed committed
the offences and he faces a hearing this month.
The Australian wife of Mohamed, Raisah Bint Alan Douglas, yesterday
said her husband's religious work for the Saudi Government was
legitimate.
He was employed in San Diego as the equivalent of a lay priest "to
marry people, to translate, as police liaison with the Somali
community . . . to teach people how to read the Koran".
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