Somali grocers get $100,000 for damage in federal raid

By The Associated Press

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Abdinasir Ali Nur, owner of the Maka Mini Market in the city's south end, is to receive $75,000 from the U.S. Treasury Department, and Abdinasir Khalif Farah, owner of the adjacent Amana Gift Shop, will receive $25,000, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a news release.

Treasury Department spokesmen declined comment and referred calls to the Justice Department, saying that agency had overseen the settlement. Officials with office of U.S. Attorney John McKay in Seattle were not familiar with the case. A Justice Department spokesman in Washington, D.C., said he found no record of the case and believed it had been settled administratively.

"These Somali businessmen were among the earliest innocent victims of overzealous actions in the government's war on terrorism," said Kathleen Taylor, executive director of the state ACLU chapter. "It is only fair that the government is providing some restitution for the unnecessary harm done to their livelihoods."

The raid Nov. 7, 2001, was directed by Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control. It targeted a building that housed the Barakat Wire Transfer Co., as well as the two stores. At the time, Treasury contended oversees entities were skimming portions of Barakat money transfers for illegal purposes.

Barakat Wire Transfer was one of 62 businesses and individuals in nine countries and five states whose assets were frozen because the Bush administration suspected ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.

No charges were ever filed against Barakat's operators.

The two local businessmen declined to be interviewed today, but issued a statement noting that their operations were raided "even though we had done nothing wrong and we were never charged with any crime. As a result, we went through much hardshop. Out stores were closed, our goods were spoiled and our reputations were damaged.

"Receiving compensation cannot make up for all this, but we do feel that some justice has been done," Nur and Farah said.

The ACLU held that the seizures were unconstitutional and not authorized under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act.

The agents seized the entire inventory of Maka Mini Market and Amana Gift Shop, which catered to local Somalis and other Muslims. They also seized display racks, toilet paper, furniture, cash from the register and shelves on the walls.
 
The items were hauled away and nonperishables were stored. Halal meat — butchered to Muslim standards, similar to kosher standards — was thrown out.

When the non-perishable items were returned three weeks later, the shop owners found much of the merchanize and equipment had been badly damaged. The two businesses also lost weeks of sales, and the gift shop eventually closed.