Though well known as a terrorist since 1996, one month before 9/11 President George W. Bush thanked Sami Al-Arian's family for a book they sent him and expressed "regret" about how their son was treated by the Secret Service.
October 29, 2004-Venice,FL.
by Grant Noah.
Bush Administration officials repeatedly met with terrorists linked to 9/11 such as Sami al-Arian and Abdurahman al-Amoudi even after the attack, The MadCowMorningNews has learned.
For example:
From the Congressional Testimony of Steve Emerson on March 19, 1996:
"Held in the Washington area from June 19 to 21, 1991, the conference included… leaders representing nearly every radical fundamentalist group in the world attended, making the gathering the all-time All-Star terrorist conference in U.S. history… those present also decided to support one another in their respective Islamic confrontations with their non-Islamic hosts."
"In attendance at this spectacular meeting was Hamas chieftain Musa Abu Marzuk, Islamic Jihad leaders Ramadan Abdullah [Shallah] and Sami Al-Arian (the latter is still ensconced as a professor at the University of South Florida while the former now runs Islamic Jihad from Damascus), Al-Amoudi, now head of the American Muslim Council and a chief spokesperson for imprisoned Hamas chief Marzuk."
Wall Street Journal contributor and terrorism expert Steve Emerson commented again in February 1997:
"In late October, 1995, a man named Ramadan Abdullah Shallah declared in Damascus, Syria that he was the new head of Islamic Jihad… Since 1991, Shallah had lived in the United States where he served as a professor at the University of South Florida at Tampa and also directed a "research centre"- affiliated with the University of South Florida-called the the World Islamic Studies Enterprise."
"He worked closely with Sami Al-Arian, another professor who was not only the corporate founder of Mr. Shallah's research facility but also the head of a non-profit charitable organization called the Islamic Concern Project. Together, both men secretly built and operated a clandestine command-and-control headquarters for Islamic Jihad"...
"From the safety of their Tampa offices, Mr. Shallah and Mr. Al-Arian operated a terrorist organization, raising funds, recruiting terrorists and bringing them into the country, devising terrorist strategies, and actually directing specific terrorist attacks -- all the while being invited to the U.S. military's intelligence headquarters at nearby McDlll Air Force Base to give assessments on the Middle East."
From the Congressional Testimony of Richard Clarke, October 22, 2003:
"From his home and office in Tampa Florida, Sami al-Arian, the indicted North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, allegedly coordinated the movement of fund from the government of Iran to suicide bombers in West Bank and Gaza… In Tampa, Florida, Sami al-Arian established the Islamic Academy of Florida. The February 2003 indictment against al-Arian says the school was used as a base of support for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad"…
"On October 9 2003, Soliman Biheiri was convicted on federal immigration charges in the Eastern District of Virginia… Biheiri was the President and founder of BMI, Inc., an investment bank specializing in Islamically permissible investments. In the 1980's and 90's, BMI offered a series of financial services to Muslims in America… BMI allegedly received a $500,000 investment from Baraka Group. Baraka Group, headed by Saleh Kamel, is reportedly a founder of a Sudanese Islamic bank which housed several accounts for senior al-Qaida operatives… Biheiri's computer reportedly contained contact information for Sami al-Arian, the indicted North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad."
From University Wire - USF Oracle June 13, 2002:
"[Former Justice Department prosecutor John] Loftus’s accusations against Al-Arian go even further than links with Jihad. Loftus said he believes Al-Arian had a link to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Loftus said Al-Arian was involved with a group called Baraka that he alleges laundered money to support the suicide pilots as they trained at Florida airports."
From University Wire - USF Oracle July 8, 2002:
“My sources keep me very current on Al-Arian,” Loftus said. “I had very high security clearances from all U.S. intelligence and NATO agencies when I worked for the attorney general… Loftus said he has evidence to link [Islamic] Jihad and Al-Arian to the al Qaeda terrorist organization, which has been blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks. In addition, Loftus said evidence suggests Al-Arian may have personally played a part in the execution of the attacks. "It is a matter of record that an organization known as the Baraka group laundered the money to the skyjackers of Sept. 11. Al-Arian incorporated Baraka in the state of Florida, which was dissolved on Sept. 28, 2001."
From University Wire - USF Oracle April 9, 2002:
"Had the government thrown Al-Arian in jail, Loftus said, many acts of terrorism could have been prevented, even the most notorious of them all: the attacks on America... "Al-Arian is connected to al-Qaida, Loftus said, because the same Saudi groups that donated money to WISE and ICP — the same groups which were raided by the FBI last month — also had connection to Mohammed Atta, the suspected leader of the Sept. 11 hijackings."
The busy Mr. al-Arian had contacts not only with Mohamed Atta and al-Qaeda, but also with Karl Rove and the Bush Administration.
From The St. Petersburg Times (Florida) March 11, 2003:
"The rumpled, balding figure was spotted darting into the offices of Republican power broker Grover Norquist last July... Sami Al-Arian emerged more than two hours later... Al-Arian was visiting the Islamic Institute, a Muslim outreach group cofounded by Norquist and housed within his office suite."
"In June 2001, Al-Arian was among members of the American Muslim Council invited to the White House complex for abriefing by Bush political adviser Karl Rove. The next month, the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom - a civil liberties group headed by Al-Arian - gave Norquist an award for his work to abolish the use of secret intelligence evidence in terrorism cases, a position Bush had adopted in the 2000 campaign."
From The Washington Post February 22, 2003:
"Al-Arian's appearance at the White House came… as part of the administration's outreach to Muslims, officials said... The group that included Al-Arian was scheduled to be briefed by Vice President Cheney, but Cheney canceled. That morning, the Jerusalem Post had run a front-page article headlined, "Cheney to host pro-terrorist Muslim group."
"Rove, according to Al-Arian and other attendees, used the meeting to talk of White House efforts to embrace the Muslim community. Al-Arian said he sat in the front row. A White House official was unable to say who else spoke to the group. Records showed that Al-Arian was admitted to the White House at least once during the Clinton administration, the official said"…
"The [al-Arian] family said that Bush gave their lanky son, Abdullah, the nickname "Big Dude."'…
"Six days after Al-Arian's meeting with Rove, a delegation of Muslim community activists stormed out of the White House complex after the Secret Service ejected Al-Arian's son, an intern for then-Rep. David E. Bonior (D-Mich.). The Secret Service sent the son an apology on Aug. 13, 2001"...
"Bush signed an Aug. 2, 2001, letter to Al-Arian's wife, thanking her for a book she sent him and expressing "regret" about how her son was treated. "I have been assured that everything possible is being done to ensure that nothing like this happens again," Bush wrote."
From The Boston Globe, February 27, 2003:
"Al-Arian is not the only Islamist zealot who has gained access to Bush and his inner circle. Consider, for example, Abdurahman Alamoudi, the founder of the American Muslim Council… In October 2000, he was cheered at a pro-Palestinian rally in Washington, D.C., when he declared: "We are all supporters of Hamas. . . I am also a supporter of Hezbollah." Three months later he was in Beirut for a terrorist summit, along with leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda."
From Salon.com, June 22, 2004:
“A close Alamoudi friend and political ally, former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian… were part of a broader political Islamic movement in the United States that connects sympathizers of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida”…
“In 1998… the Islamic Institute [Norquist], the AMC [al-Amoudi] and Al-Arian were all working together.”
From MSNBC Oct. 24, 2003:
"Abdurahman Alamoudi, a consultant to the Pentagon on the chaplain program for more than a decade, is now accused of helping Osama bin Laden and Hamas. Court documents filed late Wednesday night claim Alamoudi has provided “financial support to Hamas” and “financial support to fronts for al-Qaida.” One of the groups allegedly tied to Alamoudi is a charity that gave a Virginia post office as its address. Alamoudi was the charity’s vice president."
"Who founded it? Abdullah bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s nephew. Also ringing alarms: Alamoudi’s Palm Pilot, which the government claims included the names and numbers of six designated global terrorists.
The government also alleges Alamoudi had a Swiss bank account and $2.2 million"…
"In an audiotape of a conversation obtained by NBC News, Alamoudi seems to embrace violence and suggests al-Qaida should choose better targets: (Translated) “I prefer to hit a Zionist target in America or Europe or elsewhere.”'
From The Washington Times Magazine, March 4, 2003:
'"I think if we were outside this country, we can say, 'Oh, Allah, destroy America,' but once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it. There is no way for Muslims to be violent in America, no way. We have other means to do it. You can be violent anywhere else but in America" (Alamoudi to Islamic Association of Palestine, Chicago, Dec. 29, 1996)"...
'"Hamas is not a terrorist group... I have followed the good work of Hamas. ... They have a wing that is a violent wing. They had to resort to some kind of violence" (Alamoudi, National Press Club, Nov. 22, 1994)"…
"[Al-Amoudi] on Abu Marzook, deported from the United States and now Hamas leader in Syria: "Yes, I am honored to be a member of the committee that is defending Musa Abu Marzook [Hamas leader] in America. This a mark of distinction on my chest... I have known Musa Abu Marzook before and I really consider him to be from among the best people in the Islamic movement, Hamas -- in the Palestinian movement in general -- and I work together with him" (Alamoudi, Middle East TV, March 26, 1996)."
From Newsweek October 1, 2003:
"The Muslim activist, Abdurahman Muhammed Alamoudi, president of the American Muslim Foundation, played a key role in the chaplain program, publicly boasting to reporters that he was first person authorized by the U.S. military to recruit Islamic clerics"…
"Evidence recently obtained by prosecutors from German police files show[s]... that Alamoudi also had meetings in the fall of 2000 with Mohammed Belfas, an elder from the Islamic community in Hamburg who had multiple ties to key figures in the September 11 terror attacks. Belfas—who once shared an apartment with Ramzi bin al-Shibh, one of the orchestrators of the September 11 attacks—had come to the United States in the fall of 2000 along with a young Muslim acquaintance from Hamburg… Agus Budiman"…
"After the September 11 attacks, German police raided Belfas’s Hamburg apartment and... discovered multiple connections between the two men and several leaders of the September 11 plot, including bin al-Shibh and Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the hijackers"...
"[Belfas’] recently discovered dealings with Alamoudi are likely to get new attention. Among the evidence seized from Belfas’s apartment is a picture showing Belfas and Budiman meeting with Alamoudi at his office in Arlington… Alamoudi wrote a letter on personal letterhead recommending Belfas to an Islamic editor in Munich."
'New attention' was not forthcoming. This Newsweek article is the press's sole mention of the connection between al-Amoudi, Belfas and Budiman. Once the backgrounds of Belfas and Budiman are examined, it is easy to see why.
From The New York Sun October 3, 2003:
"One terrorism expert, Lorenzo Vidino of The Investigative Group, said the contact with Mr. Belfas raises a red flag… Mr. Vidino says. "Contact with him can be seen as contact with the organization [al-Qaeda]."
From The New York Post, January 13, 2002:
"Belfas claims he doesn't know bin Laden but told Tempo [Indonesian magazine], "Clearly he [bin Laden] has good intentions for Islam."
From The Washington Post, November 27, 2001:
"The FBI Monday outlined a series of connections between an Alexandria, Va., man [Budiman] and al Qaida terrorists linked to the Sept. 11 attacks… Budiman, an Indonesian citizen, lived and studied in Hamburg before coming to the United States in October 2000… Associates of Budiman’s acknowledge that he knew Atta and others blamed for the attacks"…
"Gomez testified that Budiman knew Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi, who flew planes into the World Trade Center, and Ramsi Binalshibh, a Muslim cleric living in Hamburg. FBI Director Robert Mueller identified Binalshibh as the 20th hijacker who was supposed to be aboard the plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field. Atta, the leader of the plot, and Binalshibh were roommates, and Budiman helped them move from one apartment into another, [FBI Special Agent] Gomez said. Gomez also testified that Binalshibh twice used Budiman’s Washington area address to try to enter the United States, presumably to take part in the plot. Binalshibh also told Budiman that he wanted to take part in the jihad, or holy war."
From CBS News, November 30, 2001:
"[FBI Special Agent] Gomez testified that hijacker Ziad Samir Jarrah used Budiman's name to get into the United States…"
From The Associated Press, November 30, 2001:
"Both Budiman and Belfas are among 370 names included on a detailed FBI list of people sought for questioning in the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The list was released last month by Finnish banking authorities. Budiman is identified on the list as a U.S. contact person for Atta, the presumed ringleader of the 19 hijackers. Belfas is identified as a contact person for bin Laden, the prime U.S. suspect in the attacks."
Al-Amoudi aided and funded al-Qaida; he also had several meetings with key figures of the 9/11 plot… and took pictures. So how did he gain access to Bush’s inner circle?’
From MSNBC October 23, 2003:
"John Loftus, ex-DOJ official: About a year-and-a-half ago, people in the intelligence community came and said-guys like Alamoudi and Sami al-Arian and other terrorists weren’t being touched because they’d been ordered not to investigate the cases, not to prosecute them."
"But, who was it that fixed the cases?... the answer is coming out in a very strange place. What Alamoudi and al-Arian have in common is a guy named Grover Norquist… He is the guy that was hired by Alamoudi to head up the Islamic institute and he’s the registered agent for Alamoudi, personally, and for the Islamic Institute. Grover Norquist’s best friend is Karl Rove, the White House chief of staff, and apparently Norquist was able to fix things."...
"Think of the Muslim chaplain’s program that he set up as a spy service for al-Qaeda."
From MSNBC October 24, 2003:
"Over the years, Alamoudi has been a familiar face in Washington. The Pentagon chose him to help select Muslim chaplains. He met with President Clinton. Made six trips to Muslim nations as a goodwill ambassador for the State Department.Met with presidential candidate George W. Bush. Last year, FBI Director Robert Mueller even spoke to an organization founded by Alamoudi, over the objections of some agents."
From The National Review, June 11, 2004:
"Alamoudi was a frequent visitor to the Clinton White House. The State Department paid him to represent the United States on six overseas speaking tours between 1997 and 2001. (His topic: religious tolerance.) The Clinton-era Pentagon selected Alamoudi to nominate the armed forces' first Muslim chaplains."
From The Boston Globe, February 27, 2003:
"Alamoudi attended the Rove briefing in the White House in [June] 2001; a year earlier, he was one of several Muslims invited to meet with candidate Bush in Austin, Texas..."
From The Washington Times Magazine October 5, 2001:
Fox News was the first to report that three days after the [9/11] attack Abdurahaman Alamoudi, president of the American Muslim Council, was invited to a prayer service with the president…"
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