Islamist Infrastructure in The

KEY ORGANIZATIONS OF THE ISLAMIST INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE UNITED STATES

NOTE: The following information is a description of some of the key Islamist organizations in the United States. This list, however, is not comprehensive. The Islamist network in the United States is vast, with many organizations yet undiscovered.

1. WORLDWIDE COORDINATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WAHHABI MOVEMENT:

 Muslim World League (MWL. Based in Saudi Arabia – established in 1962):

U.S. Address: 360 South Washington Street Falls Church, VA (Has also used 555 Grove Street, Herndon, VA as a mailing address).

The Muslim World League (MWL), a semi-official group sponsored by the Saudi royal family, spreads Wahhabi zealotry throughout the world. U.S. officials say the league has fanned the flames of religious tensions in such places as Indonesia, Kosovo, the Philippines and Singapore.

For the last 30 years, the league has targeted the United States and has turned scores of mosques into centers for jihad recruitment. The league’s Herndon, VA office was incorporated by Abdullah bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s nephew.

Wael Hamza Julaidan, a known bin Laden associate, has held several positions in the league which enabled him to funnel money to Al Qaeda. In the mid-1980’s Julaidan joined the League and became responsible for ensuring that millions of dollars obtained by the league made its way to Al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist organizations such as Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, and the Islamic Group in Egypt.

In 2000, Jualidan became director of the Rabita Trust, based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Rabita reportedly is the financial arm of the MWL. It is a key holding company that funnels money to Al Qaeda and other aligned Islamist groups.

Under pressure from the U.S., Saudi Arabia agreed to relay Julaidan’s name to the United Nations as a terrorist financier. At the same time, however, Saudi officials have defended

Employees of another MWL affiliate, the International Islamic Relief Organization, have also been linked to terrorist organizations and attacks. Osama bin Laden’s brother- in-law, Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, formerly headed the office in the Philippines, and in January 1999, Indian intelligence officers foiled a plot by Indian IIRO employee Sayed Abu Nasir, to bomb the U.S. Consulates in Calcutta and Madras.

The MWL’s Herndon office was raided by Operation Green Quest officers on May 20, 2001.

 World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY – established in Saudi Arabia in 1972):

WAMY is the youth wing of the Muslim World League. It was identified by the FBI as “a suspected terrorist organization” as early as 1996. WAMY establishes and maintains Wahhabi-oriented youth groups, and operates in 34 countries with 450 affiliated organizations.

2. WAHHABI ORGANIZATIONS THAT ATTEMPT TO CONTROL THE ISLAMIC COMMUNITY IN THE U.S.

 Muslim Students Association (MSA, established in Indiana in 1963): www.msa-natil.org

The MSA is a Wahhabi organization that was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Jamaat e Islami (Islamist party in Bangladesh and Pakistan), and followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and is funded by Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The MSA has more than 100 campus chapters around the country and claims that it leads and represents all Muslim students in the U.S. MSA has raised money for charities with known terrorist connections, such as the Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, and the Global Relief Foundation. MSA president Altaf Husain said MSA will continue to raise money for such organizations, stating that U.S. government allegations that these organizations have terrorist connections is just post- 9/11 “hype”.

One MSA organization – MSA/Persian Speakers Group (AKA Anjoman Islamie) was described by former FBI Director Louis Freeh as an extremely anti-American organization of pro-Iranian students in the U.S. that gathers intelligence for Iran, and is capable of conducting terrorist attacks if so directed.

Most of the leading Muslim organizations in the U.S. today evolved out of the MSA organization. One such organization, the North American Islamic Trust, is the main

MSA Chapters in Washington, D.C. are located at American University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Howard University.

 MUSLIM ARAB YOUTH ASSOCIATION (MAYA): http://www.maya.org

Many Islamist conventions in the U.S. have been sponsored by this organization. Frequently the speakers at these conventions have been top Islamic militants including Rashid Ghanushi, leader of the Tunisian An-Nahda movement, who has been sentenced to death in Tunisia and now lives in Great Britain; Mustapha Mash’hur, the Supreme Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood; Musa Abu Marzook, a high ranking Hamas leader who formerly lived in Virginia who was deported and now lives in Syria; Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cleric based in Qatar; Ibrahim Ghousheh, Hamas’ official spokesman, etc.

 North American Islamic Trust (NAIT – Founded by MSA in 1971):

NAIT, the financial arm of the MSA and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), is used as the main mechanism to win control of mosques and Islamic centers in the U.S. According to the Islamic Supreme Council of America, the leading moderate, anti-Wahhabi Muslim organization in the U.S. that has a proven public record of opposing Muslim extremists in America, Wahhabi extremists have won control of approximately 80 percent of the mosques in the U.S.

As in most religions, mosques and Islamic centers are woefully ill funded. Armed with Saudi money, NAIT representatives often approach the board of directors of U.S. mosques offering to pay outstanding loans in exchange for the title. Sometimes they appeal to Muslim unity, or promise increased influence to those that join them. Sometimes they use scare tactics telling the boards of directors that Shiite Muslims are plotting to take control in an upcoming election, and urging the board to transfer the title as the only way of protecting the mosque.

Once legal control is obtained, the Wahhabis next gain control of the mosque ideologically by co-opting the local imam and/or providing Wahhabi-trained imams, and providing materials for sermons, visits from Wahhabi leaders and clergy, etc. In this manner, the Wahhabis establish their extremist doctrine as the official ideology of the mosque. The Islamic Supreme Council of America reports that “in 2001 alone, NAIT provide $3.5 million worth of loans to more than 25 Islamic centers in the United States and Canada”.

The ISNA, created by the Muslim Students Association, is the largest Muslim organization in the U.S. It serves as an umbrella group for hundreds of Islamic organizations which promote Islamic Wahhabi fundamentalism, and it aggressively supports anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-jihad agendas. ISNA’s bi-monthly magazine, Islamic Horizons, often champions militant Islamic doctrine, and ISNA convenes annual conferences where Islamist militants have been given a platform to incite violence and promote hatred.

ISNA assisted in the formation of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which the FBI alleges is the largest front organization for Hamas in the U.S.

ISNA Vice President, Siraj Wahaj testified on behalf of Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, the spiritual advisor to the Islamic Group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and Al Qaeda, during Rahman’s trial as an indicted conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the planned attack in 1993 of New York landmarks. Wahaj himself was included in the list of “un-indicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators” in the 1993 bombing. Wahaj heads the Al Taqwa mosque in Brooklyn, New York. Members of Al Taqwa provided weapons, training, and security for Rahman’s crew from the Al Farouq mosque in Brooklyn.

 Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR): 453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 www.cair-net.org

CAIR is the most prominent Muslim organization concerned with the “civil rights” of American Muslims. In a speech delivered in 1994, CAIR’s Executive Director, Nihad Awad, stated: “After I researched the situation inside and outside Palestine, I am in support of the Hamas movement…” Awad also stated that the conviction of the bombers of the World Trade Center in 1993 was “a travesty of justice”, and said that there was ample evidence that the 1993 WTC bombing was carried out by Israel and Egypt.

In 1998, the Southern California chapter of CAIR protested a billboard depicting Osama bin Laden as “The Sworn Enemy”. CAIR said that the billboard was an insult to hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Southern California.

Neither CAIR as an organization, or its officers, will specifically condemn Hamas, Hizballah, or Al Qaeda. Most of CAIR’s efforts are spent trying to prove that the US Government is on a anti-Muslim witch hunt, and telling the media not to overreact to acts of Islamist terror. 4

Copyright 2002, Brian Fairchild, Higgins Foundation Steve Pomerantz, former chief of the Counterterrorism Section of the FBI, and former Assistant Director of the FBI, stated “CAIR had defended individuals involved in terrorist violence, including Hamas leader Musa abu Marzook…The modus operandi has been to falsely tar as “anti-Muslim” the U.S. Government, counter-terrorist officials, writers, journalists and others who have investigated or exposed the threat of Middle East-based terrorism…”

On September 10, 2003, Bassem K. Khafagi, CAIR’s Community Affairs Director, pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud in federal court in Detroit. The charges were brought against Khafagi for his role with the Islamic Assembly of North America, a group that has advocated violence against the United States and is believed to have funneled money terrorist organizations.

On August 25, 2003, another CAIR employee, Randall Todd Royer who served as a Communications Specialist and Civil Rights Coordinator at CAIR, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and gun charges for his role in plotting to join the designated terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. Royer is candid about his role in aiding Bosnian Muslim forces during the 1990’s and contributing to Lashkar-e-Taiba’s terrorist campaign to retake the Kashmir region from India for Pakistan. When he wasn’t abroad aiding Jihadists, Royer was also employed by the American Muslim Council and the Muslim American Society.

In December 2002, Ghassan Elashi was arrested for dealing in the property of a designated terrorist. He was a founder of the Holy Land Foundation, a specially designated terrorist organization, and he was a member of the founding board of Directors of CAIR-Texas.

 American Muslim Council (AMC): Washington, D.C.

AMC’s former President is Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (formerly Black Panther H. Rap Brown) who is serving a life sentence for killing a deputy sheriff. AMC and other Muslim advocacy groups believe Jamil’s conviction was a result of racism and his case has become a cause around which these organizations have rallied.

AMC leaders, such as the Secretary of AMC’s Board of Directors (and former Director), Abdulrahman Alamoudi, have stated their explicit support for Hamas and Hiballah. In a rally held in October 2000, Alamoudi championed these organizations stating: “We are all supporters of Hamas…I am also a supporter of Hizballah”. AMC also co-sponsored conferences with the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), reportedly the political command center for Hamas in the United States

Alamoudi also vigorously defended Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman (The Blind Sheikh), after he was convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as well as the planned 5

AMC appealed for donations for both the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and the Global Relief Foundation (GRF), even after both organizations had their assets frozen by the U.S. Government because they were financial conduits to Hamas, Hizballah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Qaeda. AMC defended the Global Relief Foundation on the charges that it aided Al Qaeda, and tried to intimidate critics of the organization by stating that the GRF was suing media organizations that reported its alleged ties to Al Qaeda.

AMC also defended the government of Sudan, stating that evidence developed by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State that Sudan engages in slavery and human rights abuses is a lie. According to Steven Emerson who received information from a former AMC employee, for over a year during the 1990’s a Sudanese intelligence officer was permitted to work secretly out of AMC offices in Washington, D.C. attempting to expand Sudan’s terrorist network on behalf of Sudan’s National Islamic Front.

In June 2002, Eric Vickers, AMC’s Executive Director appeared on CNBC’s Hardball. He was asked directly if he would denounce by name, Hamas, Hizballah, and Al Qaeda, but he evaded the question. When Vickers was pressed by his hosts for a definitive answer, instead of denouncing these terrorist organizations that target innocent civilians, Vickers defended these organizations stating that these organizations are part of a resistance movement.

On September 29, 2003, AMC head Abdulrahman Alamoudi was arrested at Dulles International Airport after a cover trip to Syria and Libya. Alamoudi is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Libyan World Islamic Call Society, a front organization that funds international terrorism. He is also facing charges for laundering Libyan money, financing political operations in the United States with illegal foreign contributions, passport fraud, and funding terrorist organizations and individuals from Syria to Oregon.

Since his arrest, Alamoudi also confessed to playing a role in an ongoing Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Abdullah.

 Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC): www.mpac.org

MPAC’s Political Advisor in Washington, D.C., Mahdi Bray frequently coordinates and/or sponsors anti-American rallies during which hate speeches and exhortations are expressed against the U.S. and Israel. At the April 20, 2002 A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop the War and End Racism) rally in Washington, D.C., Bray controlled the dais and introduced and supported a number of anti- 6

Copyright 2002, Brian Fairchild, Higgins Foundation government speakers, including Dr. Sami Al-Arian, who is currently under federal investigation for heading the support mechanism for Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the U.S. (WISE). Bray also is the host of a radio show sponsored by the Saudi financed Islamic Foundation of America (IFA). Bray was one of the “White House 6” who were arrested in front of the White House where they protested the government’s support of Israel.

Mahdi Bray is also the founder and President of the National Islamic Prison Foundation (NIPF), created under the auspices of the American Muslim Foundation, the educational wing of Adbulrahman Alamoudi’s American Muslim Council (AMC).

Maher Hathout, MPAC’s Senior Advisor wrote an article about a past rally where the American Muslim Council’s Abdulrahman Slamoudi exhorted the crowd to voice their support for Hamas and Hizballah. In the article, Hathout stated that the rally was the marker of a “new era”, and commented that the “speakers and the slogans were relevant and pertinent to the American seen (sic)”. Another Hathout article appears on the web site of RadioIslam, an extremely anti-Israeli website.

 Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA): www.icna.org

ICNA is oriented to the South Asian population (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh). ICNA openly supports militant Islamic fundamentalist organizations, praises terrorist attacks, issues incendiary attacks on Western values and policies, and supports the imposition of Shar’ia (code of Islamic Law). ICNA is allied with the Islamic Association for Palestine, the voice of Hamas in the U.S.

ICNA’s 2000 Convention was held in Baltimore. It featured Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the leader of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islamiya, the most prominent radical Islamic movement in Pakistan, whose members openly supported the Taliban government.

3. WAHHABI ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE MONOPOLIZED THE TRAINING OF ISLAMIC CADRE AND CLERGY IN THE U.S.

 International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT, established in 1980): www.iiit.org 500 Grove Street Herndon, VA

Copyright 2002, Brian Fairchild, Higgins Foundation IIIT is the primary organization behind a huge network of front organizations, trusts/charities, shell companies, and private businesses used to fund and support the Wahhabi movement in the U.S.

The organization has been linked to known terrorist organizations, and was one of the primary targets of Operation Green Quest’s March 20, 2001 raid on Islamist organizations in Northern Virginia. IIIT provided the main financial support for the World Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE), considered by the FBI to be a front organization for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, run by University of South Florida University professor Sami Al-Arian. In 1997, IIIT employee Bashir Nafi was deported for providing support to Hamas and PIJ. Before joining IIIT, he worked as the co-editor of the WISE journal in London, and he listed WISE as his employer on his U.S. work visa application.

In 1998, IIIT employee Tarik Hamdi arranged an interview with Osama bin Laden for ABC News. Tarik Hamdi accompanied/facilitated the ABC team to the meeting in Afghanistan, where he provided Osama bin Laden with a replacement battery for his satellite phone.

Some members of IIIT’s far-flung network include: International Institute of Islamic Sciences and Tehcnology (IIIST), Association of Muslim Social Scientists, the Child Development Foundation, the Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences, and the Fiqh Council of North America.

 Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences (GSISS, established 1996): 750-A Miller Drive S.E. Herndon, VA 20175 www.siss.edu

GSISS, the largest Muslim seminary in the U.S., was created in 1996 with a grant from the Malaysian Government, which is not surprising given the fact that Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is listed as the school’s chairman. Anwar Ibrahim, a Wahhabi fundamentalist activist for 20 years, eventually became Deputy Prime Minister. Interestingly, Anwar Ibrahim was convicted in Malaysia of corruption several years ago, yet he is still listed as one of the school’s officers.

GSISS trains its students in Wahhabism – the school’s curriculum was developed in cooperation with the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, which was established by Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia. The GSISS and IIIT jointly publish the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences.

The most worrisome aspect of GSISS is the fact that it is the only Muslim seminary in the U.S. that is authorized by the U.S. Government to certify Muslim chaplains for the American military – 10 of the 14 Muslim chaplains in the U.S. military are graduates of GSISS.

Copyright 2002, Brian Fairchild, Higgins Foundation GSISS also provides chaplains for U.S. prisons, universities, mosques and Islamic organizations, thereby ensuring that Wahhabi ideology will predominate in these organizations.

 Fiqh Council of North America (Leesburg, VA): 750-A Miller Drive S.E. Herndon, VA 20175

The Council seeks to influence and control the ideology espoused in U.S. mosques and Islamic centers by issuing Wahhabi religious interpretations.

4. FUNDING MECHANISMS FOR THE U.S. WAHHABI MOVEMENT

 SAAR (Acronym for founder Suleiman Abdul-Aziz al-Rajhi): 555 Grove Street Herndon, VA

SAAR, now defunct, was one of the main funding mechanisms of the U.S. Wahhabi movement. SAAR is named after its creator, Suleiman Abul Al-Aziz al-Rajhi, a wealthy Saudi banker with close ties to the royal family. Its tax records reveal that, in 1998, SAAR provided $1.7 billion to Islamist causes.

The May 20, 2001 Operation Green Quest raid on Islamist organizations in Northern Virginia collected data on almost 40 organizations and businesses. SAAR was one of the prime targets of the raid. The U.S. Government suspects SAAR and its many affiliates of funding Al Qaeda, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist organizations.

SAAR is linked to numerous organizations and individuals with terrorist connections. For example, SAAR is linked to Khalid bin Mahfouz, formerly a top financial advisor to the Saudi royal family and former head of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia. France considers Mahfouz as one of Osama bin Laden’s principal backers. Mahfouz also endowed the Muwafaq Foundation, a front company used to funnel millions of dollars to Islamist terrorist organizations from wealthy Saudis. Former Muwafaq president Yassin Al-Qadi actively aided Al Qaeda in Bosnia and Chechnya.

SAAR is also connected to Nada Management. European authorities raided Nada offices and consider it to be a support/logistics arm of Al Qaeda. Moreover, SAAR had close ties to WISE/Sami Al-Arian, considered to be the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the U.S., and SAAR is connected to two banks, Bank Al Taqwa and Akida Bank Private, Ltd., which have had their assets frozen by the U.S. Government for supporting terrorist organizations.

 SAFA Trust: 555 Grove Street Herndon, VA 9

5. WAHHABI CHARITIES USED AS FUNDING AND LOGISTICS MECHANISMS FOR ISLAMIST TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS:

 Al Wafa Humanitarian Organization :

Wafa has used at least 4 aliases and operated out of offices in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). U.S. officials describe Wafa as a key component of Al Qaeda.

 Benevolence International Foundation (BIF - Chicago):

According to the FBI affidavit: “Various persons involved in terrorist activities, specifically including persons trying to obtain chemical and nuclear weapons on behalf of Al Qaeda, have had contact with (Benevolence) offices and personnel”.

A former Al Qaeda member stated that several Al Qaeda members held positions in BIF, and U.S. law enforcement believes BIF was used for logistical support and money laundering.

 Global Relief Foundation (GRF – Chicago):

GRF’s assets were frozen by the U.S. Government which alleges that GRF is directly tied to Al Qaeda. NATO forces raided the GRF offices in Kosovo and reported that GRF was involved in planning attacks against targets in the U.S. and Europe.

 Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation :

Al-Haramain is a Saudi charity that had extensive terrorist connections. Its assets were frozen by the U.S. Treasury because of links to Al Qaeda.

 Saudi High Commission for Aid to Bosnia:

In October 2001, NATO forces raided this organization, which was founded by Saudi Prince Selman bin Abdul-Aziz and supported by King Faud.

Copyright 2002, Brian Fairchild, Higgins Foundation During the raid, NATO officers found before/after photos of: the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the USS Cole, maps of U.S. Government buildings in Washington, D.C., materials for forging Department of State badges, files on the use of crop duster aircraft, as well as anti-semitic and anti-american material geared toward children.

Six Algerians were arrested in the raid. They are currently being debriefed at Camp X- Ray in Guantanamo, Cuba. Evidence developed during the investigation revealed that these individuals were plotting an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. In addition, one of the cell members was in telephonic contact with senior Al Qaeda official Abu Zubaydah.

At least $41 million from the “charity” is still unaccounted for and presumed to be in the coffers of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

 Muwafaq Foundation (AKA Blessed Relief):

Headed by Saudi businessman Yassin Al-Qadi, Muwafaq is a front organization through which wealthy Saudis funnel money to Al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist organizations. Qadi managed the financial penetration of Islamist terrorists in Bosnia and Albania. In 1992, Al-Qadi provided $27,000 to Hamas military commander Muhammad Saleh, and “loaned” $820,000 to Salah’s Chicago front organization, the Quranic Literacy Institute. The institute’s assets have been seized and frozen by the U.S. Government.

According to an 10/20/02 article in the World Tribune, U.S. intelligence has identified 12 Saudi financiers believed to play a major role in providing funding to Al Qaeda using human couriers to fly money from Saudi Arabia to agents around the world.