In honor of this Saturday’s upcoming CAIR-OH banquet, I thought it appropriate to revisit this week some of CAIR-OH’s previous keynote speakers and events since last year’s banquet. Today we remember 1999 speaker, convicted terrorist leader Abdurahman Alamoudi, a founding CAIR board member. Alamoudi was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for his terrorist activities.
According to the US government, Alamoudi was Osama bin Laden’s point man in the US, and was used by bin Laden as a conduit to funnel money to “blink sheikh” Omar Abdel-Rahman (currently serving life in prison for his involvement in planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and plotting other terrorist attacks inside the US).
According to the NY Post:
Amoudi’s name surfaced almost a decade ago when federal agents grabbed the blind sheik and several other suspects as they were literally mixing a “witches brew” of explosives in Queens to detonate bridges, tunnels and landmarks in the Big Apple, a knowledgeable source said.So Alamoudi’s involvement with bin Laden was what initially put bin Laden on the US terror radar.
Among those arrested was Abdel al-Rahman Haggag, the sheik’s speechwriter, who turned government informant.
Haggag said he believed Osama bin Laden routinely funneled $5,000 payments to Rahman through Amoudi and his organization, the American Muslim Council.
Bin Laden’s funds were allegedly used to pay Rahman’s rent and phone bills in New Jersey and Brooklyn, a source said.
So who better to headline the second annual CAIR-OH banquet! Here’s the announcement:
CAIR-Ohio Second Annual Meeting and Fundraising DinnerNot long after his appearance for CAIR-OH, Alamoudi was videotaped leading a rally in Layfayette Park in Washington DC, leading the crowd in chants hailing the terrorist groups HAMAS and Hezbollah (Alamoudi is the speaker; the man highlighted in the video is Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society):
Date: Saturday, June 19, 1999
Time: 07:00PM - 09:00PM EDT
In the next century, American Muslims will (inshallah) take their proper place in this society. The Muslim voice must be heard at every level and on every issue of importance, both domestic and foreign. Grassroots support for national and regional Muslim organizations is a key to the community’s success.
The past year saw a new culture of activism being born in our community. CAIR Ohio has been working on promoting balanced and correct understanding of Islam and Muslims, defending Muslims’ rights and making a difference. . .
Muslims, Challenges and CAIR. . . Making a Difference
Guest Speakers:
Omar Ahmad, CAIR National Chairman
Abdurahman Alamoudi, American Muslim Foundation
Where: Ramada University Hotel
3110 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, Ohio
Tickets: Columbus Ahmad Al-Akhras (614)457-1141
Andy Amid (614)471-9849
Asma Mobin-Uddin (614)761-9650
Inam Khokar (614)527-4617
Cleveland M. Esam Zaiem (440)835-1946
Cincinnati Hassan Dawas (513)651-0321
Dayton Beshir Ahmed (937)667-8071
Mohammad Abu Matar (937)643-9891
Toledo A. Hammuda (419)474-2889
For More Information, please contact:
Council on American Islamic Relations, Ohio
570 Riverview Drive
(off Olentangy River Road)
Columbus, OH 43202
Tel: (614)470-5228
Here’s a transcript of Alamoudi’s remarks, courtesy of the Investigative Project:
Alamoudi: I have been labeled by the media in New York to be a supporter of Hamas, anybody supports Hamas here?How nice. Both HAMAS and Hezbollah were designated terrorist organizations in 1995 by the US government.
[Crowd cheers, “Yes!”].
Anybody is a supporter of Hamas here?
[Crowd cheers, “Yes!”].
Anybody is a supporter of Hamas here?
[Crowd cheers, “Yes!”].
Hear that, Bill Clinton, we are all supporters of Hamas, Allahu Akbar. [Crowd responds].
I wish they added that I am also a supporter of Hizballah. Anybody supports Hizballah here?
[Crowd cheers, “Yes!”]
Anybody supports Hizballah here?
[Crowd cheers, “Yes!”]
Takbeer!
[Crowd: “Allahu Ahkbar!”].
Takbeer!
[Crowd: “Allahu Ahkbar!”]
Just a few months after that in January 2001, Alamoudi put in an appearance at the “First Conference on Jerusalem” in Beirut. Also in attendance were representatives of Al-Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, HAMAS, Hezbollah, and terrorist leaders from all over the Middle East.
The picture below shows Alamoudi (second from left) at the Beirut conference with current HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef (far left; recently noted here as local Columbus resident Anisa Abd El Fattah’s coauthor), Yaser Bushnaq, and Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad.
Here’s one description of the conference, courtesy of Fox News:
— In February and April of 2001, the world’s most extreme Islamic terror groups held meetings in Beirut and Tehran, respectively, to set aside their differences and unite for jihad (holy war) against Israel and the United States. The two unprecedented meetings had over 400 militants in attendance. They called it “the Jerusalem Conference,” aimed at uniting behind the Palestinians and winning total Arab control over Jerusalem. Sources say the group agreed on a document and the creation of an actual organization now known as “the Jerusalem Project.” The document included the statement: “The only decisive option to achieve this strategy is the option of jihad in all its forms and resistance . . . America today is a second Israel.”The end for CAIR-OH keynote speaker Abdurahman Alamoudi came in August 2003, when he was arrested at Heathrow Airport with $340,000 he had obtained from Libyan intelligence to fund a variety of terrorist operations. Again, according to the NY Post:
The participants included leaders of Usama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terror group, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and militants from Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Qatar, Yemen, the Sudan and Algeria. Sources say at least one participant went to the conference from the United States and returned to the country afterward. U.S. intelligence sources have identified two leaders of the Beirut-based Jerusalem Project.
On Aug. 11, Amoudi was stopped in England at Heathrow Airport with 34 bundles of sequentially numbered $100 bills in his suitcase as he prepared to fly to Syria.Yes, he complained that Al-Qaeda attacks were killing too many Muslims and not enough Americans. As noted by the Washington Post, Alamoudi pled guilty and confessed to his crimes. CAIR-OH, however, has not said a word in response to the terrorist activities of their previous annual fundraising banquet keynote speaker.
He said he received the money from Libyan officials to try to win release of Libyan assets frozen after the 1988 Pan Am bombing.
But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Brett Gentrup said in court documents yesterday the feds suspect Amoudi might have been funneling the $340,000 to terror groups operating in Syria, such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Gentrup also said a transcript had been uncovered in which Amoudi criticized al Qaeda’s selection of terror targets.
Amoudi said too many Muslims were killed in attacks such as the 1998 Kenyan embassy bombing, the court documents claimed.
“I prefer to hit a Zionist target in America or Europe or elsewhere,” Amoudi said, according to the court documents.
Thanks to Ahmad Al-Akhras and everyone associated with CAIR-OH for bringing this terrorist leader into our community!
