Center releases letter from President Frank Gaffney to Rep. Mike Rogers urging him to withdraw appearance before Muslim Brotherhood-tied group

Center releases letter from President Frank Gaffney to Rep. Mike Rogers urging him to withdraw appearance before Muslim Brotherhood-tied group

Contact for interviews with Frank Gaffney: Jordi Chervitz, [email protected]; (202) 835-9077

(Washington, D.C.): Today, the Center for Security Policy released a letter previously sent from CSP President Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., to Rep. Mike Rogers (Michigan, 8^th), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, urging the Chairman to withdraw from his scheduled upcoming appearance as keynote speaker at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy’s (ICRD) Faith-in-Action Award Dinner on May 30^th, 2014.

In the letter, Mr. Gaffney details the ICRD’s extensive and troubling ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist entities, including:

• The ICRD Vice President for Preventative Engagement AbuBaker Al-Shingieti’s previous service as a spokesperson for the Sudanese regime of indicted war criminal Omar Bashir – a particularly worrisome link in light of the Sudanese government’s recent sentencing of a young pregnant woman to death for refusing to recant her Christian faith and for her marriage to her Christian husband, a U.S. citizen;
• Al-Shingieti’s previous service as regional director for the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), an organization subject to a federal grand jury probe for terrorism finance due to its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad;
• The ICRD’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed by ICRD President Douglas Johnston and IIIT President Jamal Barzinji – the latter of which, according to testimony by a federal law enforcement officer, has been connected to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizing and fundraising efforts in the U.S.;
• Al-Shingieti’s current service as President of the American Muslims for Constructive Engagement (AMCE), an organization whose Directors, Steering Committee, and Advisory Council includes leaders of multiple organizations named in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing case as unindicted co-conspirators and members or affiliates of the North American Muslim Brotherhood.

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President of the Center for Security Policy, commented:

“I commend Chairman Rogers for his years of service to our country, both in and out of Congress. His record of steadfastness on numerous issues of national security makes it especially regrettable, however, that he has chosen to go forward with his speaking engagement at the ICRD, an organization with troubling ties to both Omar Bashir’s Sudanese regime and the Muslim Brotherhood. It is my hope that Chairman Rogers will reconsider his decision to keynote the ICRD’s event, and decline therefore to give the ICRD any appearance of legitimacy in light of its past and present activities.”

To schedule an interview with Frank Gaffney, please contact Jordi Chervitz at (202) 835-9077, or [email protected]

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Frank Gaffney Letter to Chairman Rogers