US News
Former congressman indicted in terrorist conspiracy
Jan 17, 2008, 0:49 GMT
Washington - A former US congressman has been indicted in connection to a terrorist financing conspiracy that sent money to al- Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan, the US Justice Department said Wednesday.
Mark Deli Siljander, who was elected from Michigan to the US House of Representatives from 1981-87 was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations by then-president Ronald Reagan, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
According to the indictment unsealed in a federal court in Kansas City, Missouri, Siljander, 57, was hired by a charity shut down by the US government in 2004 after for connections to terrorism.
The charity, formerly known as the Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA), allegedly paid Siljander 50,000 dollars in stolen US government money to lobby Congress to remove the organization from a list of groups with suspected terrorist links. The money was later laundered into bank accounts, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department charges that IARA funneled money to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan mujahedin leader designated as a terrorist, who has supported attacks by the Taliban militia and al- Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden.
Siljander allegedly lied to investigators about his lobbying effort, saying that the money was a donation to help him write a book about bridging the gap between Islam and Christianity.
IARA and five of its officers, employees and associates were charged in a 33-count March 2007 indictment with illegally transferring money to Iraq in violation of US sanctions prior to the 2003 toppling of the Baghdad regime, and for stealing US government money.
Among those named in the indictment are Ali Mohamed Bagegni, 53, a Libyan-born US citizen and former member of the IARA board of directors and Mubarek Hamed, 51, a Sudanese-born US citizen who was the former director of the charity.
The government charges that Bagegbi and Hamed had entered into 2- million-dollar contract with the US Agency for International Development to do work in Mali. Because IARA was unable to match the funds provided by the US government, the contract was terminated.
Hamed and Bagegni kept about 84,000 dollars that was supposed to be returned to the US government under the contract. That money was used to pay Siljander, the indictment alleges.
© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
I think you are just racist because he was a muslum.
Totally wrong, dickweed. As a matter of fact, I prefer the company of Muslims over the company of braindead yanks like you. Crawl home and have mommy change your diaper, it is overflowing onto this site.
'I prefer the company of Muslims over the company of braindead yanks like you.'
I am sure, the burkas that you are forced to wear hide what an obese cow you are.
'Crawl home and have mommy change your diaper, it is overflowing onto this site.'
Aaah yes. Stuck on playground mentality witty retorts like that. Not impressed. I would advise you to do the same but the cr*p is backed up into your skull and no amount of diaper changing is going to fix that.
I couldn't give a rat's arse what you are impressed with. As for the rest of your post, try again, child. It says more about you than me.
The truth sometimes hurts.
We had a president that actually let Osami Bin Laden go. He was offered up and Clinton let him walk.
He also took campaign money from the chinese government and elements of the Russian Federation. He then gave China MFN status.
Now, his wife wants to be President.
Never mind - all that homeland security and similar measures will prevent the 'enemy' getting in, as you face out repelling the rest of the world. P.S. He's behind you !
SP4 I think you wanted to say 'We HAVE a president that let Osama Bin Laden go,you must be referring to the incident in Afghanistan when the US patrol pulled out and let Osama escape,right ?
This guy is/was a real live Sky Pilot:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Deli_Siljander
I found some of the stuff he wrote last night, but it's impossible to find now because Google will only return news stories about him. He let his religious beliefs sucker him into thinking that the Islamists he was working with were good people and really was trying to find 'common ground' between Muslims and Christians.
Is this a big sin? I think so, but the EU and the UN seem to disagree with me. They are doing the exact same thing and there have been stories about that in M&C.
Personally, I am an atheist. I am an atheist because every time I turn around I see religion or 'religious people' using their religion as an excuse to do something evil. This guy is no exception. He was supposed to return some $80K that the US Government had contributed to a Muslim Charity because they were unable to match the funds contributed by the government. He claims that the $50K he is responsible for was given to him by the charity to write a book. He did in fact right a book and went on a country wide speaking tour touting his book and his ideas.
I think he is evil, but I am not at all sure that he broke the law. This is yet another case like the FBI launched against those hapless boobs down in Florida. I remain unimpressed by the former Congressman and I am even less impressed with the DOJ over this one. It is a very minor deal and is being blown completely out of proportion. It's intended to make Homeland Security look smart. It backfires. They look EXACTLY like the gorramned fools that they are.
'I am an atheist because every time I turn around I see religion or 'religious people' using their religion as an excuse to do something evil.'
Did you see the Armenian and Greek Orthodox priests fighting in Bethlehem church right after Christmas? They fought with brooms inside the church over which group could sweep which side of church. Unbelievable!
blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/12/priests-come-to.html
It could definitely work as a skit in a comedy show.
...that's the problem with Libnazis, they have a selective memory. It was Somalia who had Bin Laden in custody, and let him go. I don't mean some legend about a patrol, I mean in custody. Noe of that is legend, it is on record.
Bill Clinton would not accept him as a prisoner for the Embassy bombings. Gee, Beiro, ah thahnks a rot!
Yes, Crinton ret heem go....musta been bundro's eenvoved! Mahn nama Sahndy coma wiff cash!'
RE:'Did you see the Armenian and Greek Orthodox priests fighting in Bethlehem church right after Christmas? They fought with brooms inside the church over which group could sweep which side of church. Unbelievable!'
Yes I saw it. Sadly, it was all too believable and yes, it would make for a good comedy. I agree.
You always stretch the truth, typical for a neo-con:
'We had a president that actually let Osami Bin Laden go. He was offered up and Clinton let him walk.
He also took campaign money from the chinese government and elements of the Russian Federation. He then gave China MFN status.
Now, his wife wants to be President.'
On one hand you do not think she deserves credit for anything that her husband did, now you want to lay blame on her. Ha-ha-ha such a liar, no credibility what-so-ever!
hasn't anyone taken sp4 out yet?
Is that all you can do is insult SP4?
Why dont you go insult some muslims or islamic leaders as they are the ones trying to destroy all western nations you fruitloop.
Do any of you islamic nitwits believe you have a future or anything with muslims rather than with America?
You better go read some history books and learn.
It really is getting old and some of you are just posing under different names....it is an old trick.
Hungarian Crusader
You have got to be kidding me. You actually feel sorry for the biggest liar on the board? If SP2 the dum-dumb would ever back anything he has to say up with 'facts' we would all leave him alone. This would also give him some credibility, something he and the people he support are lacking. All he does is repeat what Rush says, it gets real old.
If any of you tinfoil hatted dickheads really want to read it,you can find anything on the Clintons in the Congressional Record Archives, (FBI records scandal, White Water) and several books ('Bloodsport' for the White Water scandal, Vince Foster's death, crooked commodity trades, etc.) or other sources. ('See No Evil' chinese and russian campaign funds scandal)
I'm not doing the research for you, but you can find it if you like, and if you don't like it shut the f--k up. I'll admit, it's a lot of reading, but then again, the Clintons are very crooked, so there is a whole lot of material to cover!
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
You are a funny guy (old but funny). First of all I am not a 'tinfoil dickhead'. Truth of the matter is I am a realist. Now you on the other hand are a down and out liar.
You constantly rant on about the Clintons, and never answer the questions that are posed to you with anything except more allegations---ale lies. Reality is, you cannot furnish one bit of truth to anything the Clintons have been convicted of. The only thing that has been proven in any of the rants of yours is that you are a liar!
Now I know it hurts to admit this, but you do not 'have 2 degrees' (unless you bought them on-line) as if you had 1 degree you would have a better master of the english languare and would not have to resort to swearing as you do when you are being pointed out as a joke. I doubt that you make 'over a hundred grand' either unless you steal it.
Now, go back in the cage and grind out some more bull-crap. You are such a liar!
page: 1
Oh, this looks good...Jan 17th, 2008 - 01:34:16
really good. How's that you neocon dogs out there, one of your own got caught trading with the enemy. Stolen Government money - sounds almost like Haliburton. Money laundering, obstruction of justice. Yup, a GOOD republican. The neocon dogs will now say that his only crime was that he got caught. If he isn't in jail the dog party will likely try to draft him for president in 2012.
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