Den tidigare amerikanske kongress-
ledamoten Mark Deli Siljander
hyrdes som lobbyist av en
islamistisk stiftelse med nära
kopplingar till Al Qaeda och
talibanerna, rapporterar AFP.
Hans första uppgift blev att
få stiftelsen avlägsnad från
USA:s spärrlista för terror-
finansiering.
Kongressledamoten misstänks
sedan också ha plundrat ameri-
och samlat in pengar som sänts
som stöd till talibanernas terror-
verksamhet via Pakistan
**
A former US lawmaker pleaded guilty
Wednesday to obstruction of justice
and working as an unregistered agent
for a foreign charity linked to global
terrorism, officials said.
Mark Deli Siljander, 59, a former US
representative from Michigan, pleaded
guilty to charges contained in a 2008
indictment related to his work for the
Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA)
of Columbia, Missouri, the Justice
Department said.
**
Co-defendant Abdel Azim El-Siddig, a
former IARA fundraiser, also pleaded
guilty to conspiring with Siljander and
others to hire Siljander to lobby for
IARA's removal from a Senate Finance
Committee list of charities suspected
of having terrorist ties.
Siljander, who also had been an alternate
representative to the United Nations
General Assembly, had concealed the
organization for whom he was lobbying,
prosecutors said.
**
"A former congressman engaged in illegal
lobbying for a charity suspected of funding
international terrorism. He then used his
own charities to hide the payments for his
criminal activities," US Attorney Beth
Phillips said.
"Siljander repeatedly lied to FBI agents and
prosecutors investigating serious crimes
related to national security. With today's
guilty pleas, all of the defendants in this
case have admitted their guilt and will be
held accountable for their actions."
Siljander operated a Washington consulting
business called Global Strategies, and
worked with the Missouri-based Islamic
charity that was the office of an international
organization headquartered in Khartoum,
Sudan and linked to Al-Qaeda.
**
A former US lawmaker pleaded guilty
Wednesday to obstruction of justice
and working as an unregistered agent
for a foreign charity linked to global
terrorism, officials said.
Mark Deli Siljander, 59, a former US
representative from Michigan, pleaded
guilty to charges contained in a 2008
indictment related to his work for the
Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA)
of Columbia, Missouri, the Justice
Department said.
**
Co-defendant Abdel Azim El-Siddig, a
former IARA fundraiser, also pleaded
guilty to conspiring with Siljander and
others to hire Siljander to lobby for
IARA's removal from a Senate Finance
Committee list of charities suspected
of having terrorist ties.
Siljander, who also had been an alternate
representative to the United Nations
General Assembly, had concealed the
organization for whom he was lobbying,
prosecutors said.
**
"A former congressman engaged in illegal
lobbying for a charity suspected of funding
international terrorism. He then used his
own charities to hide the payments for his
criminal activities," US Attorney Beth
Phillips said.
"Siljander repeatedly lied to FBI agents and
prosecutors investigating serious crimes
related to national security. With today's
guilty pleas, all of the defendants in this
case have admitted their guilt and will be
held accountable for their actions."
Siljander operated a Washington consulting
business called Global Strategies, and
worked with the Missouri-based Islamic
charity that was the office of an international
organization headquartered in Khartoum,
Sudan and linked to Al-Qaeda.
