Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame (born c. mid-1980s) is a Somali prisoner of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He is said to have described himself as a coordinator between the Somali Al-Shabab and

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( or : Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, . Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP is a Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamic extremism, Islamist militant organization which s ...

, and is under

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

in federal district court in New York City. Warsame was captured April 19, 2011, aboard a fishing vessel transiting the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...

between

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

and Somalia by Navy SEALs of SEAL Team 6. The Seals were on in Navy fast boats hidden behind a wooden ship and stealthily boarded Warsame's boat. The SEALs subdued Warsame and his associate without a shot being fired. He was later transferred, held, and interrogated in military custody aboard the for two months. Several days later, he was given a

Miranda warning In the United States, the ''Miranda'' warning is a type of notification customarily given by Law enforcement in the United States, police to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) advising them of their right t ...

by civilian officials, who proceeded to question him and then had him flown to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, arriving July 5, where he was indicted by a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

and held for trial. Several American political figures have objected to his appearing in Federal court instead of being sent to the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

for a

military tribunal Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

. Representative

Howard McKeon Howard Philip "Buck" McKeon (born September 9, 1938) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from California's 25th congressional district from 1993 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former chairman of ...

, chairman of the

United States House Committee on Armed Services The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of De ...

, said transferring Warsame out of Guantanamo "directly contradicts Congressional intent and the will of the American people," and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of ...

stated that captured foreign nationals "should be tried in a military commission, not a federal civilian court in New York or anywhere else in our country". In December 2011 Warsame pleaded guilty to nine terrorism charges and provided valuable intelligence information.

References

External links

Warsame's indictment by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
hosted by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''
Warsame's plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York"Guilty Plea Unsealed in New York Involving Ahmed Warsame, a Senior Terrorist Leader and Liaison Between al Shabaab and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, for Providing Material Support to Both Terrorist Organizations"
hosted by

The Federal Bureau of Investigation ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

21st-century Somalian people Ethnic Somali people 1980s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{navy-stub