MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A Somali man linked with the recruitment of jihadist fighters in Minneapolis has been arrested in the Netherlands, officials say.
Special Agent E.K. Wilson of the Minneapolis FBI office said the unidentified man was picked up at an asylum-seekers' center 45 miles northeast of Amsterdam, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday.
"We are aware of this individual and of this arrest," Wilson told the newspaper. "And it is tied to our ongoing Minneapolis investigation. We are and have been working closely with Dutch authorities through our legal attache office in Brussels and coordinating with the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs."
Authorities have been investigating since last year the recruitment of up to 20 young Somali men from Minnesota to train and fight with Islamic extremists who are attempting to topple their homeland's Western-backed interim government.
A statement issued by Dutch authorities said the arrested man lived in Minneapolis before leaving the United States in November 2008 and arriving in the Netherlands about one month later, the Star Tribune reported.
