Prosecutors in Warsame case ask to depose witness in Canada

Government prosecutors have asked a federal judge in the Mohammad Warsame terrorism case to allow them to depose a witness in Canada.

Warsame is a Canadian citizen of Somali descent who lived in Minneapolis in 2002.

The federal government charged Warsame with lying to the FBI and providing material support to al Qaeda after he left Canada to attend two terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Warsame says he never knowingly attended an al Qaeda training camp, but instead he only sought a "utopian" society in Afghanistan.

The government says the witness named in court documents as "Foreign Witness A" can rebut that. "Foreign Witness A" is beyond the subpoena power of the U.S. federal court and is unwilling to come to Minneapolis for trial.

Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to allow them to depose the witness in Canada with Warsame and his attorney in Minnesota watching by a two-way video link.

The government has held Warsame in solitary confinement for the last four years while his case slowly moves toward trial.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.