Updated

A 26-year-old man has been charged with making false statements to federal officials investigating the disappearance of as many as 20 Somali men from Minnesota.

Abdow M. Abdow, a U.S. citizen of Somali descent, was arrested Friday and made his first appearance Tuesday in federal court in St. Paul.

FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson says Abdow's case is related to the investigation of the missing men, who are thought to have gone to join a terrorist group fighting in their homeland.

According to a criminal complaint, Abdow lied to FBI agents about a drive he made to Nevada with other people who then left the country.

Federal Magistrate Judge Janie S. Mayeron ruled Abdow would be eventually be released to a halfway house under certain conditions.