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To: LindyBill who wrote (77817)	10/15/2004 1:59:11 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793839

FBI Raids Mosque Leader's Home in Connecticut LGF A Sudanese Islamic charity operating in Connecticut is charged with providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to Osama bin Laden and other terrorists, and the FBI raided the home of the leader of a mosque in Waterbury: Conn. Mosque Leader Says FBI Raided Home. WOLCOTT, Conn. - A Connecticut Islamic leader said Thursday that FBI agents raided his home as part of an investigation into a Sudanese charity that federal officials have accused of supporting Osama bin Laden and other terrorists. Majeed Sharif, president of United Muslim Mosque in Waterbury, would not discuss what investigators took from his Wolcott home on Wednesday. But he told The Associated Press that he did volunteer work for the Islamic African Relief Agency, a charity the Bush administration said Wednesday was financing terrorism. Sharif, 57, referred all other questions to his attorney, who said Sharif has done nothing wrong. “He is an absolutely amazing humanitarian and person,” attorney Rosa C. Rebimbas said Thursday. She would not discuss the search. The FBI confirmed it executed a search warrant in Wolcott but would not identify the address. Federal agents searched the Islamic African Relief Agency’s office in Columbia, Mo., on Wednesday. Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said the searches were part of an ongoing investigation. “There is no danger or immediate threat to the local community,” Sierra said. The Treasury Department alleged the charity, headquartered in Khartoum, Sudan, and five of its officials “provided direct financial support” for bin Laden. It also said that the group “engaged in a joint program with an institute controlled by (bin Laden) that was involved in providing assistance to Taliban fighters.” The government alleged that the overseas branches of the group provided “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to bin Laden in 1999. Treasury's Designation of Islamic African Relief Agency Here is the Statement by Treasury Secretary John W. Snow on Treasury’s designation of the Islamic African Relief Agency as a terrorist-supporting group. (Hat tip: SoCalJustice.) “The Treasury today designated the global network of the Islamic African Relief Agency along with five of its senior officials. This action marks another crucial step in the United States Government’s continuing efforts to close down the conduits that allow terrorists to raise and move money. “The international offices of IARA were providing direct financial support to Usama bin Laden, al Qaida, Hamas and other terrorist groups. Today’s action shuts down financial channels that were being used to propagate terrorist activity. “This action again reveals the intent by terrorists to abuse charitable networks and organizations for their evil purposes.”