U.S. citizen arrested in Minneapolis charged in kidnapping of journalist in Somalia

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A U.S. citizen has been charged with kidnapping and other counts for his alleged role in the abduction of a freelance journalist who was held hostage in Somalia for nearly three years.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in federal court in New York, Abdi Yusuf Hassan and others conspired to kidnap the journalist in January 2012 in Galkayo, Somalia. The journalist was held until September 2014.
The complaint says that during the journalist's time in captivity, Hassan directed the journalist to call a family member and to make a video demanding $20 million in ransom.
Hassan was born in Mogadishu and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He was arrested in Minneapolis on Friday and will be returned to New York to face charges.



Source: star TRIBUNE.

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