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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Friends don’t see threat in man held in bomb plot


Abdi
 (The Spokesman-Review)
Carrie Spencer Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The two easygoing, joke-loving men knew each other through one of the city’s few mosques. Friends and relatives say that connection stopped at prayer, but the federal government says the two were united in terrorism.

Nuradin Abdi, a Somali refugee, is accused of plotting with admitted al Qaeda member Iyman Faris to blow up an unspecified shopping mall.

The FBI and federal prosecutors won’t discuss the evidence supporting their allegation that Faris picked up Abdi at the Columbus airport in March 2000 when Abdi returned from military-style training in Ethiopia and that another man showed Abdi how to make bombs.

Abdi was arrested in November on immigration charges and was charged this month with conspiring to aid terrorists and lying to gain political asylum in the United States as a refugee.

People who know both men insist a friendship doesn’t amount to a plot.

“I’ve shaken hands with Iyman Faris. Does that make me guilty?” asked Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Most Muslims who have lived more than a few years in Columbus know each other because until recently there were only two mosques, Humeidan said.

Abdi’s brother, Mohamed Abdi-Karani, 17, said he didn’t know of Abdi spending much time with Faris. “Outside the mosque, he didn’t know him,” he said.

Mouhamed Nabih Tarazi, the imam who performed Faris’ marriage, said Abdi was more active in the community, and he doesn’t understand how the government connected the two.

“I never saw them together,” he said.

Both men are described as quick to laugh and laid-back. While devout in their prayers, they didn’t strictly adhere to Islam.

But similarities seem to end there.

Faris’ ex-wife, Geneva Bowling, has described him as lazy and motivated by money, refusing to cook, clean or help her pay bills. They were married for five years and had no children. While members of the mosque and his cricket team say he was outgoing, neighbors said he wasn’t friendly.

“Not too many people knew Iyman Faris just because of the nature of his job, because he was a truck driver, so he was out of town a lot,” Humeidan said.

Abdi, on the other hand, seemed to be everywhere in Columbus’ rapidly growing Somali community.

Abdi Hared, 19, said he wouldn’t be at Ohio State University, where he just finished his first year, without Abdi’s help.

“He used to tell kids to stay in school,” he said. “That’s why I graduated.”

Abdi, co-owner of a cell phone store, married a fellow Somali immigrant. They have two children, and their third is due at the end of June. His family said his life revolved around work, faith and family.

Faris, 35, pleaded guilty to aiding terrorists by providing them with cell phones and sleeping bags and scouting potential targets, including the Brooklyn Bridge. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Abdi’s family has seen little of him since his arrest and says he appears mentally ill. A federal magistrate last week ordered a psychological evaluation to determine if he’s able to stand trial.