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Bush Administration officials
repeatedly met with terrorists
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. 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."
Link
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."
Link
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."
Link
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."
Link
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. Sami
Al-Arian incorporated Baraka in the state of Florida, which
was dissolved on Sept. 28, 2001."
Link
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."
Link
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 a briefing
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."
Link
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."
Link
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."
Link
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.”
Link
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.”'
Link
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)."
Link
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."
Link
'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]."
Link
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."
Link
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."
Link
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…"
Link
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."
Link
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."
Link
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."
Link
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."
Link
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..."
Link
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…"
Link
Read
more about the al-Arian / al-Amoudi terrorist cadre in 'Welcome
to Terrorland: Mohamed Atta and the 9-11 Cover-up in Florida',
Daniel Hopsicker's multi-year investigation into the 9/11 plot. 'Terrorland'
exposes the 9/11 hijackers unreported movements around South
Florida... including their contact with a wealthy sponsor from the
Tampa area. Order 'Welcome to Terrorland' now!
Link
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