Local Somalis concerned about a possible link between terrorists and African immigrants in Minneapolis have created a coalition to look into whether there is such a connection here.
Six Somali men from Minneapolis left that city early last month, went to Somalia and have not been heard from since. Community leaders there worry that the men might have been recruited for terrorism.
A Somali from Minneapolis is thought to have been involved in a suicide bombing in northern Somalia in October, the Associated Press reported. The wire service quoted an unnamed law-enforcement official, who said the FBI and Justice Department were investigating.
Somali leaders here who have met with one another for the past two weeks say there have been no reports of such a connection in Columbus and they will continue to share information to be sure there are no terrorist associations here, said Mussa Farah, president of the Horn of Africa, a nonprofit group that helps African immigrants.
"Whether it is true or untrue, this is a wake-up call to condemn it and make sure it's not happening here," Farah said.
FBI agents in Ohio have contacted the Columbus Somali community and have no knowledge of local terrorism links, said Michael Brooks, special agent with the FBI Cincinnati division.
Minneapolis has the nation's largest Somali population. Columbus has the second-largest, estimated at 45,000.
The East African nation has been without a stable government since civil war erupted in 1991.
At mosques during prayers last Friday, religious leaders condemned terrorism and any involvement in violence committed in the name of Islam, Farah said.
Somali parents here sometimes send their children to neighboring Kenya to stay with family for several weeks to be immersed in Somali culture and language, said Marian Ghedi, director of United Somali Refugee Women.
Parents are being urged to keep tabs on their children and who they communicate with if they visit Africa, Ghedi said.
The coalition of Somali leaders said it will continue to meet each week and work to develop programs to be sure young people have useful ways to spend their time so they are not vulnerable to negative influences, Farah said.
The Columbus coalition believes it is unlikely that local Somalis have any terrorist connections, Ghedi said.
"Somalis have their own problems," she said. "We don't think about terrorists."