Former US Congressman Indicted For Raising Funds For AQ & Taliban
Hard to find a picture of this traitor…but this one seemed fitting.
WASHINGTON — A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying — money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Siljander, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987.
He could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday, and his attorney in Kansas City, JR Hobbs, had no immediate comment.
The charges are part of a long-running case against the charity, which was formerly based in Columbia, Mo., and was designated by the Treasury Department in 2004 as a suspected fundraiser for terrorists.
In the indictment, the government alleges that IARA employed a man who had served as a fundraising aide to Osama bin Laden.
The indictment charges IARA with sending approximately $130,000 to help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated as a global terrorist. The money, sent to bank accounts in Peshawar, Pakistan in 2003 and 2004, was masked as donations to an orphanage located in buildings that Hekmatyar owned.
Authorities described Hekmatyar as an Afghan mujahedeen leader who has participated in and supported terrorist acts by al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Justice Department said Hekmatyar “has vowed to engage in a holy war against the United States and international troops in Afghanistan.”
The indictment “paints a troubling picture of an American charity organization that engaged in transactions for the benefit of terrorists and conspired with a former United States congressman to convert stolen federal funds into payments for his advocacy,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein.
Siljander founded Washington-area consulting group Global Strategies, Inc. after leaving the government.
(Fox)
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Gee, normally the person’s party affiliation isn’t mentioned until the 6th or 8th paragraph, if at all …
O-I-C!!!
He’s a Republican …
BTW, just curious as to his “religious” affiliation … I mean, not that his name and his charity’s name isn’t a “dead give-away” (pun intended).
January 16th, 2008 at 1:34 pmI wonder if he’s a distant relative of John Conyers?
January 16th, 2008 at 1:40 pmI bet there’s a poster in most editor’s offices.
REMEMBER!
ALL ARTICLES THAT SHOW RETHUGLICANS AND CHRISTIANISTS IN A NEGATIVE LIGHT SHOULD PROMINENTLY INCLUDE THEIR AFFILIATIONS.
PARTY AFFILIATION SHOULD NOT BE MENTIONED IF THE STORY CASTS DEMOCRATS AND PROGRESSIVES IN A BAD WAY.
FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIVES WILL RESULT IN THE OFFENDER BEING BRANDED A NEOCON AND FIRED.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:57 pmAren’t you guys kind of missing the big picture here?
January 16th, 2008 at 4:41 pmHang the traitor! I don’t give a damn what political party he is or anything else. He is a traitor.
That is one of the main differences between the Democrats and the Republicans - Republicans will gladly eliminate a threat regardless of their ties. Dems will protect them.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pmFor example, here is the New York Times article announcing the federal indictment of Congressman William Jefferson. It mentions he’s a democrat in the first sentence of the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/washington/05jefferson.html?scp=10&sq=William Jefferson
January 16th, 2008 at 4:47 pm