Alamoudi, Norquist’s Islamic Institute patron, bankrolled terrorists, federal agents say

A leading Muslim political activist, charged with “illegally accepting money from Libya to influence U.S. policy,” also “funded terrorists in the United States and abroad,” the Washington Post reports.

Abdurahman Alamoudi, who provided seed money to help Republican activist Grover Norquist start the Islamic Institute, was arrested earlier this week on the Libyan money charges. Federal prosecutors allege that he funded terrorists abroad and inside the United States, including those linked to al Qaeda.

Alamoudi had a close relationship with the Clinton administration, but thanks to Norquist’s aggressive pushing of radical Muslims including Alamoudi, the suspected terrorist funder built ties to now-President George W. Bush. The president’s enemies, starting with the New York Times, are now linking Bush to Alamoudi.

The Center for Security Policy has long warned the Bush Administration to sever ties with what it calls a “terrorist enabler,” citing potential “grave harm” to the president and to national security.

Before and since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Alamoudi, Norquist, and others aggressively lobbied to undermine the Bush Administration’s anti-terrorism legislative tools, and have attacked Attorney General John Ashcroft, who is leading the domestic war on terrorism.

Federal agents allege that Alamoudi was behind funding terrorists in the United States.

British authorities detained Alamoudi in August with luggage containing $340,000 in cash as he prepared to board a flight for Syria. The money, the US government alleges, “was intended for delivery in Damascus to one or more of the terrorists or terrorist organizations active in Syria,” according to the report.

Prosecutors displayed six checks from the Portland, Oregon, branch of Alamoudi’s American Muslim Foundation – four of which paid for the “salary” of Patrice Lumumba Ford, an alleged al Qaeda conspirator arrested last year, and two of which paid for expenses of Ahmed Bilal, a co-conspirator of Ford who pled guilty to federal charges.

An Alamoudi aide, Khaled Saffuri, became executive director of the Islamic Institute under Norquist’s chairmanship when Alamoudi made the cash contributions. The group operates out of Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform suite. Saffuri has said that at least one of the checks was not a donation but a “loan.” The Islamic Institute vigorously denies that it is tied to terrorists or terrorist supporters, and says such allegations are motivated by “racism and bigtry.”

The Islamic Institute has been subject of heavy criticism for its ties to radical operatives who support Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad, but the Alamoudi prosecution is the first evidence that anyone in the tight circle was linked to Osama bin Laden’s organization.