varian
03-29-2008, 01:34 AM
More from CAIR.
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Ex-CAIR chief indicted
for 'Baghdad Jim' junket
Charged with arranging Saddam-financed trip
in which Dems on enemy soil called Bush liar
Posted: March 27, 2008
2:50 pm Eastern
By Art Moore
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
The former head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan branch was indicted yesterday for allegedly arranging a visit to Baghdad by three U.S. congressmen financed by Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency in the run-up to the war, according to federal prosecutors.
Muthanna Al-Hanooti, an Iraqi-American, was rewarded with 2 million barrels of oil by Iraqi intelligence officials when he set up the controversial excursion by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California.
The congressmen made news in October 2002 with their harsh criticism of President Bush in live television interviews from Baghdad, including McDermott's charge that the president would lie to the American people to justify a war with Saddam. ...
... Al-Hanooti joins a list of leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, who have been indicted on terrorism-related charges
CAIR is a spinoff of the defunct Islamic Association for Palestine, launched by Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook and former university professor Sami al-Arian, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Among the convicted CAIR staffers are former communications specialist Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the U.S. and sent several members to Pakistan to join a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida. Bassem Khafagi was arrested in January 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community relations and convicted on fraud and terrorism charges in connection with a probe of the Islamic Assembly of North America, an organization suspected of aiding Saudi sheiks tied to Osama bin Laden. In October 2006, Ghassan Elashi, a member of the founding board of directors of the Texas branch of CAIR, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for financial ties to a high-ranking terrorist.
Al-Hanooti was identified in a June 2000 press release as executive director of CAIR's new regional office in Michigan, .,.
... Al-Hanooti pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, illegally purchasing Iraqi oil and lying to authorities and was held on $10,000 bail.
Al-Hanooti worked from 1999 to 2006 for the Southfield, Mich., charity Life for Relief and Development, which financed the trip to Iraq. Thompson and McDermott, who officially disclosed the cost of the trip as $5,510, understood the charity financed the junket.
Federal prosecutors said Al-Hanooti, assigned to monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, provided Saddam's government with a list of U.S. lawmakers believed to favor lifting economic sanctions against Iraq, the AP said.
The Detroit Free Press said that in addition to Al-Hanooti's role as head of CAIR Michigan, he was president of a group called Focus on American and Arab Interests and Relations. ...
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60041
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Ex-CAIR chief indicted
for 'Baghdad Jim' junket
Charged with arranging Saddam-financed trip
in which Dems on enemy soil called Bush liar
Posted: March 27, 2008
2:50 pm Eastern
By Art Moore
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
The former head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan branch was indicted yesterday for allegedly arranging a visit to Baghdad by three U.S. congressmen financed by Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency in the run-up to the war, according to federal prosecutors.
Muthanna Al-Hanooti, an Iraqi-American, was rewarded with 2 million barrels of oil by Iraqi intelligence officials when he set up the controversial excursion by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California.
The congressmen made news in October 2002 with their harsh criticism of President Bush in live television interviews from Baghdad, including McDermott's charge that the president would lie to the American people to justify a war with Saddam. ...
... Al-Hanooti joins a list of leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, who have been indicted on terrorism-related charges
CAIR is a spinoff of the defunct Islamic Association for Palestine, launched by Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook and former university professor Sami al-Arian, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Among the convicted CAIR staffers are former communications specialist Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the U.S. and sent several members to Pakistan to join a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida. Bassem Khafagi was arrested in January 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community relations and convicted on fraud and terrorism charges in connection with a probe of the Islamic Assembly of North America, an organization suspected of aiding Saudi sheiks tied to Osama bin Laden. In October 2006, Ghassan Elashi, a member of the founding board of directors of the Texas branch of CAIR, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for financial ties to a high-ranking terrorist.
Al-Hanooti was identified in a June 2000 press release as executive director of CAIR's new regional office in Michigan, .,.
... Al-Hanooti pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, illegally purchasing Iraqi oil and lying to authorities and was held on $10,000 bail.
Al-Hanooti worked from 1999 to 2006 for the Southfield, Mich., charity Life for Relief and Development, which financed the trip to Iraq. Thompson and McDermott, who officially disclosed the cost of the trip as $5,510, understood the charity financed the junket.
Federal prosecutors said Al-Hanooti, assigned to monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, provided Saddam's government with a list of U.S. lawmakers believed to favor lifting economic sanctions against Iraq, the AP said.
The Detroit Free Press said that in addition to Al-Hanooti's role as head of CAIR Michigan, he was president of a group called Focus on American and Arab Interests and Relations. ...
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60041