After girls’ jihadi quest, a focus on outreach

DENVER  — Gathered under the fluorescent lights of an austere Denver mosque, a group of parents stared at a photo projected on a wall in front of them.

It showed a knife, a gun and a phone. Some seemed perplexed.

"You can kill someone with a gun or a knife, but a phone might get me 10 more recruits," said Seamus Hughes, of the National Counterterrorism Centre, who traveled from Washington, DC to speak to parents and Muslim leaders about the ease with which their children can be lured to terror on the Internet.

Thursday night's meeting was the first formal encounter between federal counterterrorism officials and Denver's tight-knit Muslim community since authorities last month stopped three suburban Denver girls from flying to Syria to join Islamic State extremists. It's part of a joint effort by Muslim leaders and federal law enforcement around the country to stop kids from going overseas to fight in purported holy wars.

"I want to build a relationship with your community," said Thomas Ravenelle, special agent in charge of the Denver FBI office. "We don't want to be talking with you for the first time the next time children go overseas."

As terror recruiting becomes easier in an increasingly connected world, there have been alarming cases of young Americans joining Islamic extremists across the county. Law enforcement and community leaders in Minneapolis, for example, have been working together for years after authorities learned in 2008 that small groups of young Somali men had gone back to their homeland to fight with the Al Qaida-linked terror group Al Shabab. A handful of others have travelled to Syria in the last year take up arms with militants, and outreach efforts ramped up.

In Colorado, three girls from east African immigrant families, ages 15 to 17, were radicalised online, swapping messages with top Islamic State recruiters on Twitter and other social media sites.

Qusair Mohamedbhai, general counsel for the Colorado Muslim Society, who helped organise the meeting, said it was important to ensure people know what resources they have, and education efforts would continue. FBI officials planned to meet with school leaders and others as part of the plan.

The meeting was similar to those held several years ago in Denver after concerns arose that young men were returning to Somalia to join Al Shabab. Worried parents contacted officials with similar fears after the girls' trip, US Attorney John Walsh said. That spawned the latest series of meetings, which he said were designed to help families protect themselves.

"The adults that are here must take this message back to the youth," said Abdur Rahim Ali, imam of the Northeast Denver Islamic Centre. "We have to be vigilant and consistent in educating the youth. It takes community effort."