DarkPrincess
December 12th, 2008, 10:12 AM
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Last month, 17-year-old Burhan Hassan told his family he was catching a ride to school with a friend. He then vanished.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/art.fighters.file.afp.gi.jpg Islamic fighters drill in Somalia last month. The FBI says men are traveling from the U.S., potentially to fight.
http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/content/in_the_news/left_gray_btn.gif (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html#)
1 of 2
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/global/pic_changer/next.gif (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html#)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif
His mother spoke to her son just a few days ago over the phone. To her shock, she says, he told her he was no longer in the United States.
"Mom, I'm in Somalia! Don't worry about me; I'm OK," the mother quoted her son as saying.
Details of how he got there and what has transpired in his life since his November disappearance are sketchy. His mother, who agreed to be identified only as Amina, says her son has clearly changed.
"He was different," she said of his attitude on the phone. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif Watch a report on missing Somalis » (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html#cnnSTCVideo)
Hassan is one of more than a dozen young men of Somali descent -- many U.S. citizens -- to have disappeared from Minneapolis over the past six months, according to federal law enforcement authorities. Authorities say young men have also disappeared in Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; and Columbus, Ohio.
"A number of young Somali men have traveled from throughout the United States to include Minneapolis to Somalia, potentially to fight," said FBI Special Agent E.K. Wilson.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/art.fighters.file.afp.gi.jpg Islamic fighters drill in Somalia last month. The FBI says men are traveling from the U.S., potentially to fight.
http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/content/in_the_news/left_gray_btn.gif (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html#)
1 of 2
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/global/pic_changer/next.gif (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html#)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif
His mother spoke to her son just a few days ago over the phone. To her shock, she says, he told her he was no longer in the United States.
"Mom, I'm in Somalia! Don't worry about me; I'm OK," the mother quoted her son as saying.
Details of how he got there and what has transpired in his life since his November disappearance are sketchy. His mother, who agreed to be identified only as Amina, says her son has clearly changed.
"He was different," she said of his attitude on the phone. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif Watch a report on missing Somalis » (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html#cnnSTCVideo)
Hassan is one of more than a dozen young men of Somali descent -- many U.S. citizens -- to have disappeared from Minneapolis over the past six months, according to federal law enforcement authorities. Authorities say young men have also disappeared in Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; and Columbus, Ohio.
"A number of young Somali men have traveled from throughout the United States to include Minneapolis to Somalia, potentially to fight," said FBI Special Agent E.K. Wilson.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html