Not guilty plea for Minnesota man in Somali case

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota man accused of helping recruit young Somalis in the U.S. to fight in their homeland has pleaded not guilty.

Omer Abdi Mohamed, 26, of St. Anthony, entered his plea Monday in federal court in St. Paul.

A superseding indictment made public last month accuses Mohamed of holding mobilizing meetings at mosques and homes and conspiring to provide money and weapons. Mohamed faces a July 19 trial on terrorism charges.

About 20 young men are thought to have traveled from the Minneapolis area to Somalia in recent years to join al-Shabab, a group classified by the U.S. government as a terror organization.