Court documents filed late Wednesday night claim Alamoudi has provided “financial support to Hamas” and “financial support to fronts for al-Qaida.”
One of the groups allegedly tied to Alamoudi is a charity that gave a Virginia post office as its address. Alamoudi was the charity’s vice president. Who founded it? Abdullah bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s nephew.
Also ringing alarms: Alamoudi’s Palm Pilot, which the government claims included the names and numbers of six designated global terrorists.
Terrorism expert and NBC News analyst Steve Emerson said, “The public face of Mr. Alamoudi was 180 degrees different from the private face. And the private face clearly showed that he was involved or directed fund-raising for Hamas, fund-raising for other terrorist groups.”
The government also alleges Alamoudi had a Swiss bank account and $2.2 million in unreported income, on which he failed to pay taxes.
Thursday, Alamoudi’s lawyer said he never supported any terrorist group and that Osama bin Laden has dozens of nephews who have nothing to do with al-Qaida.
Yet, in an audiotape of a conversation obtained by NBC News, Alamoudi seems to embrace violence and suggests al-Qaida should choose better targets: (Translated) “I prefer to hit a Zionist target in America or Europe or elsewhere.”
Alamoudi’s lawyer said her client doesn’t remember saying such a thing and questioned the tape’s authenticity.
Strange Bedfellows-
Grover Norquist and Abdurahman Alamoudi
Boston Phoenix -FRIDAY, OCT. 24 2003
During his presidential campaign and his first months in office, George W. Bush had no stronger supporter than Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform. During the New Hampshire primary, Norquist’s group ran television ads that morphed the face of Arizona senator John McCain into that of President Bill Clinton (see " New Hampshire Diary, " News and Features, January 12, 2000). When Bush finally took office, Norquist became a key ally in the president’s tax-cut quest. In its May 14 issue, the Nation highlighted the relationship in a piece titled " Grover Norquist: ‘Field Marshal of the Bush Plan.’ "
But now, as Bush embarks on a war against terrorism, the president may find Norquist more of a liability than an asset: the tax reformer has emerged as one of the leading conservative critics of the administration’s legislative response to terror, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001. Certainly, Norquist is no defender of terror or terrorists. Still, he has, in a political and a business capacity, befriended those who have failed to renounce terror. And if you don’t toe the party line on terror these days, you’re not in the party.
The Protestant Norquist is a founding director of the Islamic Institute, a socially conservative Muslim think tank that eschews international issues in favor of domestic issues such as tax cuts and faith-based initiatives. In addition, Norquist’s lobbying firm, Janus-Merritt Strategies LLC, was officially registered as a lobbyist for the Islamic Institute as well as for Abdurahman Alamoudi, the founder and former executive director of the American Muslim Council.
Public records show that Alamoudi has done more than $20,000 worth of business with Norquist’s firm, on issues relating to Malaysia. One source says the lobbying involved efforts on behalf of reformist Islamic leader Anwar Ibrahim, imprisoned in Malaysia, whose cause has been taken up by Amnesty International, among others.