Posted on 08/31/2006 9:01:26 PM PDT by jdm
DETROIT - A federal agency has frozen the assets of a Muslim group that some intelligence experts allege raised money in metro Detroit to bankroll terrorism through Hezbollah.
The action, taken this week by the U.S. Treasury Department, makes it illegal to contribute to or conduct business with the Islamic Resistance Support Organization. It comes after the Israel-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center alleged IRSO had raised money in Michigan through donation boxes in restaurants and possibly other places.
The center says IRSO used similar boxes in Lebanon to raise donations.
But local Arab-American and Muslim leaders contacted Thursday said that they are unaware of IRSO and know of no one who raises money for it. The state Attorney General's Office, which requires many groups that raise money to register with the state, could not find a record of the group.
The Treasury Department, in freezing IRSO assets Tuesday, did not say if it had seized any of the group's funds.
"I've never heard of this name," said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "And I wonder about the connections" to metro Detroit.
IRSO is based in Beirut, Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel waged a fierce battle in recent weeks. Meanwhile, federal investigators have been keeping a close eye on Hezbollah support_particularly in southeastern Michigan, where some Muslims respect the group for what they see as its defense of southern Lebanon.
The U.S. government considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization, saying it has killed more Americans than any other militant group except al-Qaida.
A senior Treasury official said IRSO was open about supporting terrorism.
"While some terrorist-supporting charities try to obscure their support for violence, IRSO makes no attempt to hide its true colors," said Stuart Levey, the department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
"IRSO's fund-raising materials present donors with the option of sending funds to equip Hezbollah's fighters or to purchase rockets that Hezbollah uses to target civilian populations. . . . IRSO works to inflict suffering rather than alleviate it."
The Treasury Department. released a copy of a receipt from the group that listed several projects in need of contributions. Those projects included rockets and bullets, food, clothing and shoes.
The group is also known as the Islamic Resistance Support Association. Neither name could be found on GuideStar, which tracks nonprofits that operate in the United States.
The state Attorney General's Office could not find any record of the group registering, said spokesman Rusty Hills. Religious groups, though, are exempt from registering with the state, as are groups that raise less than $8,000 a year.
According to a 2003 report by the Israeli center, the association "raises funds in the Detroit area by means of alms boxes placed in restaurants in the local Shi'ite community."
Hamad questioned the center's claims, saying they may be politically motivated.
The claims unfairly "cast this shadow of suspicion" on the region's Arab and Muslim communities, he said.
My stick-in-the-eye suggestion is to take all these funds seized from terrorist-supporting organizations and publicly donate it to Israelis and U.S. Soldiers.
Spend it on barmitzvahs.
Carter will invite them for a glass of lemonade.
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