Somali Pirate Brainwashed, Mom Says

Mystery Surrounds Lone Survivor Of Failed Hijacking; Faces Charges In New York Court

(AP)  At home in central Somalia, Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse frequented a dusty, outdoor cinema after school, watched Bollywood films dubbed into his native Somali and, his mother says, "was wise beyond his age."

Now Muse - the sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain - is a world away in New York City to face what are believed to be the first piracy charges in the United States in more than a century. He smiled but said nothing Tuesday as he was led into a federal building under heavy guard.

"The last time I saw him he was in his school uniform," the teen's mother, Adar Abdirahman Hassan, 40, told The Associated Press by telephone Tuesday from her home in the central Somali town of Galkayo. "He was brainwashed. People who are older than him outwitted him, people who are older than him duped him."

She said he was "wise beyond his age" - a child who ignored other boys his age who tried to tease him and got lost in books instead.

"He took all his books the day he disappeared, except one, I think, and did not come back," she said, adding that she did not know which book he was reading - Hassan is illiterate.

Muse's personal details are murky, with his parents in Somalia insisting he was tricked into getting involved in piracy. His age also remained unclear. His parents said he is only 16, but U.S. law enforcement said he is at least 18, meaning prosecutors will not have to take extra legal steps to try him in a U.S. court.

Muse's mother said she has no records to prove his age, but she and the teen's father say he is 16. "I never delivered my babies in a hospital," she said. "A traditional midwife helped me deliver."

A schoolmate, however, said he believed Muse could be older.

"I think he was one or two years older than me, and I am 16," said Abdisalan Muse, reached by telephone in Galkayo. "We did not know him to be a pirate, but he was always with older boys, who are likely to be the ones who corrupted him."

It is rare for Somalis to have formal birth records, and U.S. officials did not say on what basis they believe him to be 18 or older.

The teenager was flown from Africa to New York, where he was being charged under two obscure federal laws that deal with piracy and hostage-taking, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the case. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced.

Muse grew up poor in a one-room home, the eldest child of a divorced mother, in one of the most impoverished, violent countries in the world. A nation of around 8 million people, Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. A quarter of Somali children die before age 5 and nearly every public institution has collapsed.

Muse's mother sells milk at a small market every day, saving around $6 every month for school fees for her oldest son.

"I cried when I saw the picture of him," Hassan said, referring to the photo of her son being led in handcuffs in New York. "Relatives brought a copy of the picture to me. Surely he is telling himself now, 'My mother's heart is broken."'

She said the last time she saw her son in person, she was pushing him out the door so he would not be late for school.

Since that day weeks ago, he simply disappeared. Asked why she believed he left, Hassan was at a loss.

"A young man, at his age, could say he needed money, perhaps," she said. "I used to give him his school fee because I could not afford more than that. But of course he needed money."

The boy's father, Abdiqadir Muse, said the pirates lied to his son, telling him they were going to get money. The family is penniless, he said.

"He just went with them without knowing what he was getting into," Muse said in a separate telephone interview with the AP through an interpreter.

He also said it was his son's first outing with the pirates after having been taken from his home about a week and a half before he surrendered at sea to U.S. officials.

[airboatboy]

That dude probably doesn't have enough brain to wash.

[6591Hou]

Lord help us find a better way
Posted by lost_america

Lost...you strike me as reasonable, caring individual. Apparently you have faith in God. That you care about anyone, such as this Somali, is great. But I have this against those who express faith in God and yet watch their fellow man suffer.

Let me clarify myself here. God says that the "church" is to tend to the widows, the orphans - that the church should consider the needs of others more important than their own. The church in America has largely ignored the needs of the masses, they have let their duties conveinently fall to the taxpayers. They are contributing to the problem.
Posted by Stuart2560 at 1:42 PM : Apr 21, 2009
=============================================================
Stuart - "the church" doesn't exist as a uniform monolithic entity, individual churches have missions, run soup kitchens, and job fairs, and give clothing and other items to the equally monolithic 'masses'. I don't know where you draw your information that all of the churches are ignoring the masses in some vast conspiracy - but I strongly disagree, based upon my experience with my local church. Generalities are generally not accurate.

[6591Hou]

Apparently Somali pirates need movies from Hollywood that show how piracy was traditionally dealt with - hanged and left to rot as a warning to other pirates.

[lost_america]

Hey stu another far rightie who lived in a million dollar home and was a tax attorney shot an killed his entire family including the daughter they went to visit at college in a Md. Hotel room. Then turned the gun on himself.
Posted by Livinontheedge at 1:45 PM : Apr 21, 2009

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I understand the thought, I'd be lying to say it had not crossed my mind. I can't provide for my wife anymore. My job is gone and I can't find another one.

Since I have a nice home and nice cars no one cares. But, I can't sell the house and I can't sell the cars. No one will buy them

but I'm a rich rightie. I don't beg, I don't ask for help, I take care of my business. That's when you decide that I need to just die and get out of the way

I don't know what we are going to do.

So, I don't agree with the man, but I do understand

[lost_america]

The church in America has largely ignored the needs of the masses, they have let their duties conveinently fall to the taxpayers. They are contributing to the problem.
Posted by Stuart2560 at 1:42 PM : Apr 21, 2009

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Not all of us, but enough to cause us to stink in the nostrils of a lot of people. I'm sorry that a lot of my brothers act the way they do. All I can do is be a light and hope that some might see that I am not like that.

John O.

[MIO42]

"wise beyond his age" Yep a real "PIRATE" No Hope , No Faith, No Love, NO Future,Just Fear ! Doesn't appear to be Overweight though ?

[lost_america]

Obama is trying but the far right wants to hold him back and stop the process.
Posted by Livinontheedge at 1:30 PM : Apr 21, 2009

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I hope he does bring about change in that regard. I am not a liberal, but I am not heartless either.

This boy is like countless thousands (here and there) who never had a chance. It is not right.

If I believe in the sanctity of life (which I do) I can not step over this young man on my way to protest an abortion.

[lost_america]

In all honesty, I feel sorry for the young man, and, those like him.

It is easy to say "Get a job"

The reality is, there are no jobs.

The same is true for the inner city kids here. Some break out of the cycle, but most, just

like this boy, never had a chance.

Their mothers cry real tears (just like yours and mine)

The sad truth is, he probably is better off in an American prison than home

The twisted thing is, we will spend 60K a year to lock him up, but, not a dime to build

an infrastructure where he can take care of himself.

Lord help us find a better way

[tmittelstaed]

What incredibly stupid comments. Nobody knows how old this pirate is, nobody knows if the mother is lying or not, there are no statements from the victims of how this pirate acted towards them or what he did, there's been no independent verification of anything, and yet still people think they know everything about the case.

[lost_america]

He is just a poor misunderstood youth; Send him to one of southern California's renowned re-education camps.

There he will learn:

Reading
Writing
And
American is the root of all the evil in the world

Perhaps the young strapping lad can take part in a rousing game of "Lifeboat" where he and his friends can decide why it is a good idea to set grandma adrift.

I suspect he will do well at that

Send him on to Berkley then on to Chicago to learn the ropes

[daffy64]

Full quote from Rush Limbaugh presented without comment:

You know what we have learned about the Somali pirates, the merchant marine organizers that were wiped out at the order of Barack Obama, you know what we learned about them? They were teenagers. The Somali pirates, the merchant marine organizers who took a US merchant captain hostage for five days were inexperienced youths, the defense secretary, Roberts Gates, said yesterday, adding that the hijackers were between 17 and 19 years old. Now, just imagine the hue and cry had a Republican president ordered the shooting of black teenagers on the high seas. Greetings and welcome back, Rush Limbaugh, the Excellence in Broadcasting Network and the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies.


They were kids. The story is out, I don't know if it's true or not, but apparently the hijackers, these kids, the merchant marine organizers, Muslim kids, were upset, they wanted to just give the captain back and head home because they were running out of food, they were running out of fuel, they were surrounded by all these US Navy ships, big ships, and they just wanted out of there. That's the story, but then when one of them put a gun to the back of the captain, Mr. Phillips, then bam, bam, bam. There you have it, and three teenagers shot on the high seas at the order of President Obama.

[rharrin1]

I can't believe it, rowdy is a pirate?

[lost_america]

Okay. So how should we solve the problem?
Posted by Stuart2560 at 12:40 PM : Apr 21, 2009

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, he could trump up a birth certificate and run for president.

[gangesdak]

Oh well, this young pirate is no different from any inner city poor young man in trouble with the law. We get angry with his crime, and instinctively want to impose harsh punishment as a lesson. But no matter what we do does not solve the problem. I am quite ambivalent about the punishment. I have not seen anyone changing the pattern of crime. Punishment will not change this young man, nor will it change those active pirates. Mom was right! The kid was brainwashed.

[lost_america]

Didn't Somalia used to have an asprin factory?

What happened to that?

[presjfk]

DUMB as DIRT! They use to hang horse theives but people still stole horses. Death is not a penalty that works!
Posted by txlakeside

I see your point but you have missed the point of the death penalty, it is conclusive. The criminal will never again commit the crime, will never again victimize another person - and if that person is guilty of a violent crime, it is justice for the victims and their families.

If the death penalty acts as a deterrent even in a few cases, its an added bonus.

[presjfk]

This pirate hit the lottery. He has come to the US, will likely be convicted, go to prison where he can take college courses and figure out how to stay in the country when he is released.

Frankly, I would shoot all pirates on sight.

[txlakeside]

DUMB as DIRT! They use to hang horse theives but people still stole horses. Death is not a penalty that works! IT IS JUST DUMB AS DIRT! Maybe if the people in the country actually had a chance at a productive life it may help. But man has used the death penalty since man first kept records and it has never deterred anyone from anything. It is just an ancient remenant of the stupid and archaic ey for an eye mentality! You do not commit crimes expecting to get caught! DUMB AS DIRT!

[hamiltongrad]

Showtime. Victim. College Scholarship ?

[bobnjersey]

[If convicted, Mr. Abdiwali should be given the lightest possible sentence. All he did was incovenience someone for a couple of days. After his release from prison, he should be given a scholarship to Princeton or Vassar where his risk taking behavior, ambition, and winning smile will put him on a clear path to a high position in the Democratic Party. ]
[Posted by thusspokezara at 9:49 AM : Apr 21, 2009 ]

why should he go thru all that ... he's already qualified for a high position in the republican party ... he's an illiterate moron ... can't speak the language ... obviously practices the 'ends justify the means' philosophy ... and was engaging in the somali version of 'the bush doctrine' while hijacking ships (preemptively of course).