star tribune-The
son of a Somali singer and political activist gunned down by Al-Shabab
operatives last year is suing an international money-transfer company with ties
to Minnesota for allegedly paying a bounty on her life.
The
lawsuit comes more than a year after the death of Saado Ali Warsame, 64, a
Somali icon who lived in New York and Minneapolis before returning to her
homeland in 2012.
Her
longtime push for social justice included roles in pushing out the country’s
military regime and becoming one of the country’s first female members of
parliament. Her death was mourned from Mogadishu to Minneapolis.
The
lawsuit may mark the first time a company has been sued for providing funding
to Al-Shabab, said Joshua Arisohn, an attorney for Warsame’s 22-year-old son
Harbi Hussein, who lives in Minneapolis.
Not
long before her death, Warsame pointed her criticism toward Dahabshiil,
Africa’s largest money-transfer business, which facilitates most of the $1.6
billion sent to Somalia each year.
The
company, which houses a subsidiary headquarters in Minneapolis, is widely used
by Minnesota Somalis to wire money to relatives back home, but it has been
under international scrutiny for a lack of security in how money is transferred
— and to whom, including potential terrorists in Somalia.
Last
year, the Kenyan government temporarily suspended Dahabshiil’s operations after
an Al-Shabab-led attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013.
Several western commercial banks have ceased doing business with Dahabshiil, in
part out of concerns over terrorist financing, according to the lawsuit.
Warsame was an outspoken critic of the company, writing a protest song playing off the business’ name, which means “gold smelter.” She instead called Dahabshiil a “blood smelter” and urged Somalis not to do business there. A music video by Warsame featured a rifle dripping with blood next to the company’s name.
Warsame was an outspoken critic of the company, writing a protest song playing off the business’ name, which means “gold smelter.” She instead called Dahabshiil a “blood smelter” and urged Somalis not to do business there. A music video by Warsame featured a rifle dripping with blood next to the company’s name.
According
to the lawsuit, Dahabshiil “placed a multimillion-dollar bounty” on Warsame as
a result of the song. She was killed in July 2014 by two Al-Shabab operatives
in Mogadishu; they were sentenced to death and executed in May.
The
lawsuit demands damages for pain and suffering by Hussein because of the loss
of his mother. He declined a comment through Arisohn.
Arisohn,
whose New York-based law firm has handled terror financing cases for nine
years, said others could be out there.
“We
are working hard to unearth all of the institutions who are financing
terrorism, and I think it’s incumbent on the government and private citizens
alike to investigate these matters and make sure that financial institutions
like Dahabshiil are putting in place the safeguards that they are supposed to
have,” Arisohn said.
Dahabshiil
did not respond to a request for comment.
Arisohn
said he intends to get the case to trial as quickly as possible on behalf of
Hussein.
“It’s
devastating whenever you lose a parent, but to lose your mother who was bravely
trying to help a country in dire need and was assassinated, it truly is
devastating,” he said.
Source: Mareeg.com
Time: 07:43 pm GMT
Date: 13/12/2015
