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U.S. Muslim leader charged with funneling money to terror groups

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, October 2, 2003

An American Muslim leader has been charged with relaying hundreds of thousands of dollars to Syrian-sponsored groups deemed as terrorist by the United States.

Federal prosecutors have asserted that Abdurahman Alamoudi sought to provide several Islamic insurgency groups based in Damascus with $340,000 in August. Alamoudi, president of the American Muslim Foundation, was stopped and the money was confiscated by British security officers as he was about to board a flight from London to Syria.

Affadavits as well as federal prosecutors said Alamoudi received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Libya for lobbying the White House to lift U.S. sanctions from the regime of Col. Moammar Khaddafy. The affadavits suggested that Alamoudi brought some of the money provided by Libya to Syrian-backed organizations deemed as terrorist.

Syria has harbored such groups as Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad and remnants of Al Qaida, Middle East Newsline reported. "Alamoudi, in addition to dealing with Libya, has a more direct connection with terrorist organizations designated by the United States government," Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ward said during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Tuesday.

The beneficiaries of the $340,000 Alamoudi had planned to deliver in Damascus were not identified. A federal affadavit said the money was "intended for delivery in Damascus to one or more of the terrorists or terrorist organizations active in Syria."

Federal prosecutors said Alamoudi planned to finance suspected Al Qaida agents in the United States. They said FBI agents found checks for Patrice Ford and Ahmed Bilal, both of whom were charged with conspiracy to aid Al Qaida and Taliban.

Alamoudi, a 51-year-old native from Eritrea, has been regarded as one of the most influential Muslim lobbyist in the United States. Over the last decade, he donated tens of thousands of dollars to candidates for state and federal posts and has met frequently with White House and other administration officials. He became a U.S. citizen in 1996.

An affadavit submitted to the federal court said Alamoudi initiated contact with Libya, which he later visited at least 10 times. The affadavit, signed by Special Agent Brett Gentrup, said Alamoudi approached Abuzed Dorda, Libya's envoy to the United Nations, in 1997 for funds.

"He received, transferred and otherwise dealt in, funds from the Libyan permanent mission at the United Nations, an instrumentality of the government of Libya," Gentrup said at a hearing on Monday.

Another organization founded by Alamoudi was the American Muslim Council, authorized by the Defense Department to accredit Muslim chaplains for the U.S. military. Officials said Alamoudi, who was ordered held without bail, was not connected to the arrest on Sept. 10 of Capt. James Yee, one of 17 Muslim chaplains in the military and accused of espionage for Syria.

The charges against Alamoudi came as a White House panel urged the Bush administration to increase efforts to stem the rising anti-American tide in the Muslim world. The United States Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World said in a report released on Wednesday that "hostility toward America has reached shocking levels. What is required is not merely tactical adaptation but strategic, and radical, transformation."

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