Somali group added to terrorist list

Al-Shabaab, a Somali insurgent group with links to al-Qaeda, has been added to the federal government's terrorist list followingclaims that the organization is targeting Canadian youth.

Thedesignation comes as members of theSomali community have reported that the group is trying to radicalize and recruit young Canadians, according to officials at Public Safety Canada.

On the ministrys website, the government describes the organization as an "Islamist group dedicated to establishing a Somali caliphate, waging jihad against the enemies of Islam, and removing all foreign forces and Western influence from Somalia."

"It is today the strongest, best organized, financed and armed military group in Somalia, and it controls the largest stretch of territory in Southern Somalia,"the government says.

According to the government, thegroup attacks byusingsuicide bombings, landmines and remote-controlled roadside bombs. It says the group also engages intargeted assassinations against Ethiopian and Somali security forces, other government officials, journalists and civil society leaders.

Ahmed Hussen, the president of the Canadian Somali Congress, saiddespite its brutality, the group restores law and order to people who have been without it for 20 years.

"The first thing they do when they take over an area isthat theyat least provide security. And that security is very, very attractive," he said.

The listing means that all persons in Canadaand everyCanadian abroad are prohibitedfrom knowingly dealing with assets owned or controlled by the group, or knowingly participating in or contributingto the organization.

Last week, Britain designated the group a terrorist organization.