Free Republic

Even as war rages in Iraq, federal agents have begun to unlock the secrets of an unlicensed, unregistered Islamic charity in upstate New York that allegedly pumped millions of dollars into Baghdad. Flouting U.S. economic sanctions, the group shipped cash out of Syracuse, laundered it in banks in Jordan and then illegally funneled it into Iraq, according to an unsealed federal indictment. Operating under the name Help the Needy, the organization described itself as a tax-exempt nonprofit that provided food and humanitarian assistance to the "starving children and suffering Muslims of Iraq." But it lacked charitable status, misrepresented itself in...

Other group helping in Iraq not prosecuted Friday, March 07, 2003By Renee K. Gadoua The same federal act used to indict three Central New Yorkers accused of illegally sending money to Iraq has not been enforced against at least a dozen local residents who openly violated U.S. law by traveling there. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes U.S. sanctions against Iraq. Four Muslims, including three Onondaga County residents, were indicted Feb. 26 on charges that include violating the act by using the Syracuse-based charity Help the Needy to send money to Iraq without a license. About 600 people have...

The Saudi man arrested by the Joint Terrorism Task Force yesterday in Idaho has ties to close associates of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and to four Arab men charged at the same time with channeling funds to Iraq. Sami Omar Al-Hussayen – a University of Idaho doctoral candidate supported by the Saudi government – was a terrorist bagman, according to a federal criminal justice source quoted by a Seattle newspaper. Saudi student Sami Omar al-Hussayen "He's in touch with people who could pick up the phone, call [bin Laden], and he would take the call," the source told the...

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday they have indicted Pete Seda, the head of the Ashland branch of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, on fraud and tax charges. Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty and Abu Yunus, and another officer of the foundation, Soliman Hamd Al-Buthe, are part of a three-count indictment for illegally transporting $150,000 to Saudi Arabia. The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, charges them with conspiracy to defraud the United States, filing a false IRS return for a tax-exempt corporation and failure to file a report of international transportation of currency. Known locally as a peace activist,...

A terrorism case that went awry By Maureen O'HaganSeattle Times staff reporter, Monday, November 22, 2004 Sami al-Hussayen, a Saudi Arabian, faced terrorism charges in Idaho. John Ashcroft called Sami al-Hussayen part of "a terrorist threat to Americans that is fanatical, and it is fierce." Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said al-Hussayen is proof that terrorists are hiding in the heartland. Yet al-Hussayen, a 34-year-old doctoral candidate at the University of Idaho, didn't exactly fit the profile when he was arrested in February 2003 and likened in court documents to Osama bin Laden. Instead, al-Hussayen's alleged crimes occurred at his...

<p>BOISE, Idaho — A graduate student from Saudi Arabia — already jailed on immigration charges — has been accused of helping to raise funds for a militant Palestinian organization.</p> <p>Sami Omar Al-Hussayen (search) was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism after federal prosecutors said he helped run Web sites that urge people to contribute money to Hamas (search).</p>

BELLEVUE -- A former University of Idaho football player said he is not tied to terrorists and is shocked at the way he's been treated by federal agents the past two weeks. Abdullah Al-Kidd was arrested as he prepared to board a jetliner at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. He is jailed in Boise, Idaho, as a material witness in an investigation of an alleged terrorist group with links to the university. "Basically, don't believe the hype," Al-Kidd told the King County Journal during a jailhouse interview on Sunday night. "I'm not a terrorist. I'm as American as apple...

Judge rules Saudi student could be deported 04/25/2003 Associated Press BOISE - An immigration judge in Boise decided today that University of Idaho graduate student Sami Omar Al-Hussayen could be deported. But the Saudi Arabian national allegedly linked to Islamic radicals will remain in the Canyon County Jail as his case moves along two legal tracks. Immigration Court Judge Anna Ho decided Al-Hussayen was "removable," meaning he could be deported for violating the terms of his student visa into the United States by being paid for creating Internet pages for groups including the Islamic Assembly of North America. But...

<p>In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, Sami Omar al-Hussayen led fellow Muslims as they joined an emotion-charged candlelight march remembering the dead. The Saudi graduate student in computer science at the University of Idaho helped organize a blood drive for victims. He issued a press release on behalf of the Muslim Students Association, stating that the small town of Moscow's Muslims "condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently vicious acts of terrorism against innocent citizens."</p>