Somalia air strike target on FBI most wanted list News
Somalia air strike target on FBI most wanted list

[JURIST] Fazul Abdullah Mohammed [FBI profile], one of the FBI's most wanted terror fugitives, was the target of two US air strikes in Somalia [AFPS report] on Monday. Believed to be a member of al-Qaida and to have trained with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, Fazul is listed as the alleged mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania [US State Department backgrounder]. The US acted on information leading US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer [official profile] to believe he was being sheltered in Somalia by the Council of Islamic Courts [official website, in Somali].

It has not yet been determined if Fazul was killed in the air strikes, although there were casualties reported on the ground. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.