CAIR’s Hamas Ties Prompt FBI To Cut Off Communication

The FBI has cut off communications with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the wake of damning court evidence that ties the group’s founders to a Hamas-support network in America, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned.

It is a stunning rebuke to the organization which promotes itself as “arguably the most visible and public American Muslim organization.” The decision to end contacts with CAIR was made quietly last summer as federal prosecutors prepared for a second trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), an Islamic charity convicted in November for illegally routing money to Hamas. CAIR was named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the case.

Its name appears on a roster of “Palestine Committee” members. Evidence in the case shows the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas’s parent organization, created the Palestine Committee to help Hamas politically and financially. CAIR founders Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, who remains the executive director, also appear on a telephone list of Palestine Committee members. The men also participated in a secret 1993 gathering of Hamas members and supporters called to discuss ways to “derail” U.S.-led peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.

The IPT obtained a letter from the FBI’s Oklahoma City field office, which explained that a meeting with local Muslim groups had to be postponed due to restrictions on CAIR’s access. For that to change, wrote James E. Finch, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Oklahoma City field office, “certain issues must be addressed to the satisfaction of the FBI. Unfortunately, these issues cannot be addressed at the local level and must be addressed by the CAIR National Office in Washington, D.C.”

FBI spokesman John Miller confirmed the letter’s existence. Sources indicate similar correspondence was issued by other field offices.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism is a non-profit research group founded by Steven Emerson in 1995. It is recognized as the world’s most comprehensive data center on radical Islamic terrorist groups. For more than a decade, the IPT has investigated the operations, funding, activities and front groups of Islamic terrorist and extremist groups in the United States and around the world.

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