The government, however, says that just months after Abdi was granted asylum, he was plotting to blow up one of the city's shopping malls, exactly the type of target some feared would be next on terrorists' lists.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/15/shopping.mall.plot.ap/

Attorney General John Ashcroft said charges revealed Monday against Abdi serve as a reminder that al Qaeda is determined "to hit the United States and hit us hard."

Abdi, who operated a small cell phone business, loved his new freedoms and never spoke out against the U.S. government, said his brother Mohamed AbdiKarani, 17. Abdi has a son and daughter and his wife is pregnant.

"He loved it here. He never had as much freedom. He said it's good to raise his kids here," AbdiKarani said. "He really hated terrorists. You know how (President) Bush hates terrorists? I think he hates them more."

Abdi is accused of conspiring with convicted al Qaeda operative Iyman Faris -- a former Columbus truck driver who sought to sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge -- to bomb a mall in the area, though the FBI said no specific mall was targeted.

Abdi, 32, was arrested at his apartment November 28, the day after Thanksgiving when malls across America were crowded with shoppers. He was held at first on immigration violations, authorities said.

The FBI has warned al Qaeda might shift away from trying to hit tightly guarded installations, such as government buildings or nuclear plants, to more vulnerable targets such as malls, apartment buildings or hotels.

Jamilla Hassan, 39, a cousin of Abdi's, said she hopes the charges are a mistake. Abdi was like any immigrant who escaped the clan-based war in Somalia looking for a better life, Hassan said.

"He was another good American," she said.