Posted on 01/16/2008 12:11:59 PM PST by varina davis
Ex-Lawmaker Charged in Terror Conspiracy
Jan 16 02:42 PM US/Eastern By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer 19 Comments
WASHINGTON (AP) - A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who read the title and immediately assumed “Democrat”.
Reminds me of my favorite FReeper tagline: “I’ve got the rope.”
Nope. It only took them until the second sentence to mention that he’s a Republican. What you should have assumed is only that if they did not mention his party affiliation, then he is a Dem.
from Wikipedia:
Siljander takes an interest in conflict resolution, particularly in Islamic countries, and in recent years has tried to publicize the common ground between Christianity and Islam, particularly in the Koran’s portrayal of Jesus. This is a turnaround from a previous position in which he objected to the Koran being read at a prayer breakfast, asking the emcee: “How can you read the book of the devil at a prayer breakfast?” [1] He is widely traveled, and claims to have visited over 120 countries.[2] Siljander is also one of the few American politicians to have visited Libya in recent years.
“Wiki” him....., strange record. Strange name.
He represented 4th district, mid-state, not Dearbornistan.
you should know better.....only Pubs are actually brought up on charges....Rats are rarely investigated or reported on when they molest, steal, kill, conspire, etc...
Let’s not question anyone’s patriotism - yeah right. If an ex GOP congressman was mixed up in this anyone can be suspect.
I was surprised he was Republican, but then again both sides have been pretty cruddy lately.
IMHO I would not be surprised if there are more who are currently serving in Congress doing the same thing. That is if enough rocks are turned over and the debris under them is examined.
New Charges Against Former Congressman
Today’s superseding indictment also names Mark Deli Siljander as a defendant on counts of money laundering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. According to the indictment, Siljander was hired in March 2004 by defendants IARA, Hamed, and Bagegni to advocate for the removal of IARA from a U.S. Senate Finance Committee list of non-profit organizations suspected of being involved in supporting international terrorism.
The Senate Finance Committee placed IARA on this list of charities and published the list on Jan. 14, 2004. Siljander was to advocate for IARA’s removal from the list and reinstatement as an approved government contractor by gathering information and meeting with individuals and agencies of the U.S. government.
As compensation for the services that Siljander agreed to perform, IARA transferred roughly $50,000 in stolen federal funds to accounts that were controlled by Siljander at the National Heritage Foundation and the International Foundation. According to the indictment, the funds used to compensate Siljander for his services had previously been stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by IARA, Hamed and Bagegni. The International Foundation and the National Heritage Foundation, which is not related to the Heritage Foundation, are not charged with any wrongdoing in this case.
IARA, Hamed and Bagegni had previously entered into a series of agreements with USAID for relief projects in Mali, Africa. When USAID terminated those agreements in December 1999, the amount of money involved totaled approximately $2 million. IARA had allegedly failed to fully fund the matching contributions required to receive USAID funds. After the termination of these agreements, the indictment alleges, IARA, Hamed and Bagegni, without authorization, retained approximately $84,922 of USAID money and failed to return the funds to USAID as called for by the agreements.
According to Count Twenty-Eight of the indictment, Siljander and defendants IARA, Hamed, Bagegni and El-Siddig conspired to engage in money laundering by transferring stolen USAID funds, knowing that the transfers were designed to conceal the nature, source and ownership of the proceeds. Counts Twenty-Nine through Thirty-One of the indictment charge Siljander along with IARA, Hamed, Bagegni and El-Siddig with engaging in money laundering by transferring stolen USAID funds, knowing that the transfers were designed to conceal the nature, source and ownership of the proceeds.
Curious. He is president of Global Strategies, Inc. Why does that sound so familiar?
He objected to the public reading of the Koran at a prayer breakfast and then ends up donating to a terrorist conspiracy? What made him turn?
He has a book scheduled to come out in June, 2008: A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman’s Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide.
Lost of unanswered questions here.
Thanks for the link to the Wikipedia page on Siljander.
“It’s a small world after all” and looks like I’ve only got a few
“degrees of separation” from the guy.
As he helped raise $$$ for the Islamic American Relief Agency
which is in my parents town. And they watched the home of the “charity”’s
leader being raided by an FBI posse a couple of years ago.
(The guy and his family have basically gone off the radar since then.)
Here are more links:
Islamic American Relief Agency
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_American_Relief_Agency
real lowdown on the Islamic American Relief Agency at
“Discover The Network” site run by David Horowitz and FrontPageMag
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6408
Yeah it sounds like someone trying so hard to “Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide” that he perhaps inadvertantly crossed over to the darkside unwittingly. I will give him the benefit of doubt at his point until evidence leads me away from this stance.
It wasn’t entirely clear to me from the press release, which I only skimimed, that he entirely knew about this. He could have been set up. Having said that, however, I doubt it. He seems like a smart emough man who should have known what was going on, so I assume he did.
Global Strategies is a search engine marketing consultancy specializing in search engine optimization, brand preservation and training for global enterprise companies.
With nearly 1 billion global searches conducted daily, search engines have created a new communications medium that can't be ignored by both new and established companies. This new medium requires new thinking and changes the way marketers communicate and reach new prospects and customers. Successful marketing in this medium requires taking a bottom up approach, not top down. This in itself has created new challenges for global enterprise companies and how they utilize their Web sites as a marketing vehicle. GSI provides the expertise to enterprises so they may effectively leverage and capture this new marketing channel. Everything we do at Global Strategies is about looking at your Web assets and unlocking them - we like to call it 'search from the inside out'.
He was a Reagan ambassadorial appointee
Even smart people get scammed, happens quite often in fact.
How many just like him have infiltrated our government or are running for President?
Can you believe there are no pictures of him on the internet???????????
SILJANDER, Mark Deli, a Representative from Michigan; born in Chicago, Cook County, Ill., June 11, 1951; attended the public schools; graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School, 1969; B.S., Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, 1972; M.A., same university, 1973; trustee, Fabius Township Board, St. Joseph County, 1972-1976; real estate broker; served in the Michigan State house of representatives, 1977-1981; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1980; elected as Republican to the Ninety-seventh Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Representative David A. Stockman, and reelected to the two succeeding Congresses (April 21, 1981-January 3, 1987); unsuccessful candidate for renomination to the One Hundredth Congress in 1986; delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, September 1987-September 1988; president of a consulting firm in Washington, D.C., and operates an import-export firm; radio commentator; unsuccessful candidate in 1992 for nomination to the One Hundred Third Congress; is a resident of Reston, Va.
Oil for Food. I’m thinking Oil for Food.
Yeah, but he hasn’t been in Congress since 1992. That’s 16 years ago. People can change in 16 years.
Read about Romney’s record or Huckabee’s record without knowing party affiliation. Obviously Dermocrat. Huck is a good Democrat because he is pro-life, but he is still a practical Democrat.
Thanks for posting. Very interesting. Ping.
Photo of him here. He was the speaker a couple of months back at a prayer breakfast associated with a convention (NACS = Natl. Assoc. of Convenience Stores).
Ha! I figured it out. His publisher told him to do something to generate buzz to help book sales.
So he framed himself for a crime. Simple, right?
Now all he has to do is wait for book sales to take off, and then figure out how to un-frame himself.
Thank you VERY much for posting that link. It was illuminating. And very frightening. Those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ better know what we believe and why.
OMG
And people wonder why we don’t trust our government!
NO ONE would HONESTLY say that at a PRAYER breakfast!! This was a Red Herring.
3rd word, second sentence. This is a record for AP. Normally they would mention his political affiliation is the first sentence. (and of course, if he was a Dem, there would be no mention at all)
When I think really hard about world peace while driving I might drift toward the shoulder of the road a bit. This guy ended up in Libya.
Nudge, nudge, say no more!
From your link...
“Ambassador Siljander is uniquely qualified to engage the Muslim world. With over 24 years serving in the power circles of Washington and semi-official travel to nearly 130 countries, he has generated unique opportunities for frequent access to world leaders. These experiences have led him to develop a unique paradigm for the peaceful resolution of conflict that has been successfully applied in several challenging areas of the globe. These methods are outlined in his soon-to-be-released book on building bridges to the Islamic world and strategies to thwart the growing threat of terrorism.
Congressman Siljander has received acclaim for his work in reconciliation. He received various leadership awards, including the 1996 Mohandas K. Gandhi International Peace Award, in recognition of his courageous statesmanship in international reconciliation. In addition, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright honored Ambassador Siljander, at the United Nations, for his efforts toward a more just, humane and peaceful world. American and international Muslim leaders have lauded Siljander for his compassion and understanding of their culture and distinctive approach to bridge-building techniques.”
I’d waterboard his ass just on general principles, see if he knows anything, or is a creative liar when he is uhm, ‘stressed’...
You are very welcome.
He’ll likely get a book and movie deal, and then will be handily re-elected to congress.
Militant
I say hang the Scumbag.
bookmark
Given the RINO slate of candidates (exception Thompson and Hunter), I have ceased to see a meaningful distinction between Republicans and Democrats.
There is no “reconciliation” with the cult of Islam.
Built into their ideology is taqiyya - their system of deceiving and bamboozling idiots like him
http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/3518
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