Source:
Mobile Press-Register/APDAPHNE, Alabama — Omar Hammami, the "jihadist-next-door" from Daphne who authorities say came to hold a top leadership position in an al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in Somalia, may have been killed during recent fighting in the warn-torn east African country, Somalia’s defense minister said Tuesday.
Gene Ponder, who taught Hammami and coached his soccer team at Daphne High, said Tuesday that, despite the young man’s violent activities, he hoped for the 27-year-old’s Daphne family that the news was not true.
"A few colleagues called me today to tell me the news. I can only imagine what his poor mother and grandmother are going through," Ponder said. "This was a smart kid, athletic, outgoing, who had everything going for him."
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http://blog.al.com/live/2011/03/alabama-born_jihadist_hammami.html