ALEXANDRIA, Va. — For a woman accused of supporting the Somali terror group al-Shabab, Hinda Osman Dhirane began her trial with an unusual admission: She is an ardent al-Shabab supporter.

Dhirane’s attorney, federal public defender Paula Deutsch, began her opening statement Monday reading parts of a poem Dhirane wrote as an ode to its fighters.

‘‘We make no bones about the fact she was a supporter of al-Shabab,’’ an Al Qaeda affiliate centered in Somalia that claimed responsibility for the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya that killed 67 people, among other attacks, Deutsch said. ‘‘But it’s talk. It doesn’t prove that she necessarily provided substantial assistance to al-Shabab.’’

Prosecutors, though, say Dhirane, 46, of Kent, Wash., and Muna Osman Jama, 36, of Reston, funneled about $5,000 — to al-Shabab fund-raisers.

Associated Press