More Wahhabi Mischief in DC

Stephen Schwartz has received a letter complaining about his article "Naming Names," which appeared on The Weekly Standard website on September 21 and may be accessed on this site .

A D.C. attorney, Wendell Belew, objects to comments in the article, on behalf of a "Friends of Charity Association" (FOCA) with a website at www.foca.net.

Mr. Belew states in his letter that FOCA's membership includes the three official Saudi agencies most responsible for the global campaign to Wahhabize Sunni Islam: the Muslim World League (MWL), World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), and International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO). The role of these agencies as accomplices of terrorism and preachers of hatred, especially against Shia Muslims, as well as against other non-Wahhabi Muslims and non-Muslims, has long been demonstrated beyond discussion. All three were featured prominently in the government report on which Mr. Schwartz commented.

But Mr. Belew is too modest. The FOCA website further discloses that its membership includes the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a Wahhabi indoctrination network ordered shut down in various countries for its activities supporting terrorism. Outstanding among the nefarious efforts of Al-Haramain has been its publication of a "Wahhabi Qur'an" in English (see www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/653wwewi.asp).

On April 8, 2005, the Saudi-based Arab News [see www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=61775&d=8&m=4&y=2005] reported on a press conference held in Riyadh, at WAMY headquarters, attended by Saleh Al-Wohaibi, WAMY secretary-general and occasional accomplice of America's top apologist for the Saudis, James Zogby of the Arab American Institute (AAI) [see www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=8466].

Mr. Belew availed himself of WAMY's hospitality to offer the bizarre allegation that the Saudi authorities had taken action against al-Haramain, on the territory of the kingdom, as a factor in the American presidential election.

In addition, Mr. Belew represents Dallah al-Baraka Holding Co., a Saudi business giant. As Mr. Schwartz noted in a 2003 article in The Weekly Standard [see www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/978uclzj.asp], "The head of the Dallah al-Baraka Group is Saleh Abdullah Kamel, whose name appears in the 'Golden Chain,' a roster seized by Bosnian authorities in Sarajevo in March 2002, listing Saudi donors to bin Laden and his associates. Kamel is named as a supplier of funds to Adil Abdeljalil Batterjee, founder of the Benevolence International Foundation, designated a terror-financing entity by the (U.S.) Treasury Department." Disgracefully, the Saudi authorities allow Messrs. Kamel and Batterjee to walk the streets of the kingdom unimpeded.

In his letter to Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Belew admits, with no-doubt-unintended humor, "FOCA's representatives have met with senior Bush administration officials to offer cooperation in the form of exchange of financial, human resource, organizational and other information about our members. Though these offers have been declined by the administration so far, we are actively cooperating in similar efforts with various members and committees of Congress." (Emphasis added.)

That the administration has had the good sense to rebuff such blandishments is cause for celebration. Similarly, Mr. Schwartz rejects any editorial critiques by Wendell Belew, FOCA, or their Wahhabi masters. The only solution to the problems created by MWL, WAMY, IIRO, and Al-Haramain is their complete dissolution as organizations, and the trial and punishment of all those responsible for their many crimes, accompanied by a thorough audit of all their financial activities and subsidies around the world, especially their involvement with Americans.

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