Ilhan Omar was married to a Somali-British citizen in 2009, and separated from him a couple years later.
They never finalized a divorce, despite Omar's rekindling a long-term relationship with another man, now the father of Omar's three children.
The man Omar remains legally married to isn't her brother, despite recent claims that spread like wildfire through right-wing blogs.
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Omar, the clear favorite to win a legislative seat in a heavily Democratic district of Minneapolis, addressed the allegations that she'd engaged in a marriage that was either fraudulent or bigamous. She also tried to clear the air about her relationship with Ahmed Hirsi, the man she now lives with. As Omar explained in the statement, she ended her first marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in a religious ceremony in 2011. Elmi than moved back to the United Kingdom, where he's from originally, and Omar later reunited with Ahmed Hirsi.
Omar and Hirsi had previously been together for years, and were also married "in the faith tradition," and divorced in the same way. Her statement says she and Hirsi are now, again, "married in our faith tradition," and are happily raising their three children.
The complex nature of Omar's romantic life was first brought to light by the conservative
Power Line blog. Questions raised there were then
asked by the Star Tribune. Both outlets tried to reach Omar for an explanation, and neither had its request fully satisifed. (Omar's campaign manager communicated with the Star Tribune; Power Line received a statement authored by an attorney.) Omar's new statements on the rumors are her most expansive to date.
Power Line's most explosive allegation -- and the one that was so happily lapped up by other conservative blogs -- was that Elmi, her first (and, legally, current) husband is also Omar's brother. Omar's statement takes on its strongest tone in answering that claim.
"Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive," she says.
http://www.citypages.com/news/ilhan-...ther/390505121
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