Two women including a mother of six accused of sending money to Al-Shabaab are headed for federal trial
- Hinda Osman Dhirane and Muna Osman Jama were arrested in 2014
- Dhirane, now 46, lived in Kent, Washington, with husband and six children
- She and Jama, 36, of Reston, Virginia funded terror group, prosecutors say
- Trial will open Monday in Alexandria and is expected to last for two weeks
- Al-Shabaab, based in Somalia, became an Al-Qaeda affiliate in 2012
Two women, including a mother of six, will face trial this week after being accused of sending money to Al-Shabaab.
Hinda Osman Dhirane, 46, of Kent, Washington, and Muna Osman Jama, 36, of Reston, Virginia, were arrested in 2014 and charged with providing material support to terrorists.
They funneled small amounts of money to Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group based in Somalia, which became an Al-Qaeda affiliate in 2012, prosecutors say.
Dhirane's husband told KIRO 7 how he and his family woke up to find police and FBI agents at their home during his wife's arrest in July 2014.
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Hinda Osman Dhirane (pictured in a previous court sketch), 46, of Kent, Washington, and Muna Osman Jama, 36, of Reston, Virginia, were arrested in 2014 and charged with providing material support to terrorists
Dhirane's husband (pictured) recounted how he, his wife and their six children woke up to police and FBI agents around 4 am on the morning of her arrest
'They came at four in the morning. I have a five-year-old. She cried,' he told the network. Dhirane's husband said at the time he didn't believe his wife gave money to terrorist organizations.
The bench trial for Dhirane and Jama will open Monday in federal court in Alexandria, near Washington, DC and is expected to take up to two weeks.
Jama and Dhirane, who has six children, used coded communications to hide their activities, according to authorities.
They referred to Al-Shabaab as 'the family' and truckloads of supplies as 'camels', prosecutors say.
Defense lawyers say the women are Somali expats who were sending money back home for innocuous purposes.
Court records indicate the amount in question is less than $5,000.
Al-Shabaab carried out its first attack outside of Somalia in 2010, when it claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings that killed 74 people in Kampala, Uganda, in July 2010.
The group formally joined Al-Quaeda in 2012. ISIS appealed Al-Shabaab members to join its ranks in a 2015 video, but Al-Shabaab has made no official pledge so far.
The bench trial for Dhirane and Jama will open Monday in federal court (pictured) in Alexandria, near Washington, DC and is expected to take up to two weeks
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