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APRIL 4, 2002 : (TREASURY SECRETARY O'NEILL HAS LUNCHEON MEETING WITH SAFA GROUP-CONNECTED MUSLIM LEADERS OVER OP GREENQUEST RAIDS) WASHINGTON -- Nine days after the federal government raided their homes and businesses, leaders of an alleged terror financing operation were given the opportunity to question the agency investigating them. The meeting on March 29, 2002, in the office of Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) is an example of the political clout of what the government calls the "Safa Group," a web of companies and nonprofits based in northern Virginia. One week later, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill met with Muslim leaders with connections to the Safa Group to hear complaints about the raids. The leaders are suspected of running more than 100 businesses and charities that have allegedly supported the Palestinian Islamic Jihad-Shikaki Faction and Hamas, two organizations the government has designated as terrorist groups, according to a 132-page affidavit written by David Kane, an investigator with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. ...He filed the document to support a government request for a warrant to search 29 properties in Virginia, a Georgia poultry business and other undisclosed locations on March 20, 2002.--------------------------------- Targets of terror financing probe had political clout ; Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | December 12th, 2003 | EUNICE MOSCOSO and REBECCA CARR Posted on ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2003 ‎11‎:‎31‎:‎22‎ ‎AM by Sabertooth