Agents target charity offices

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Agents target charity offices
Raiders look for links to Mideast terrorism
August 7, 2007

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Federal agents were looking for information on terrorist operations and Hizballah activity when they raided two Muslim charities last month, court records show.

The agents hauled away computers, files, money and other items from the Dearborn offices of Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization and Goodwill Charitable Organization, two Shi'ite Muslim groups that raised money in metro Detroit...

From the home of Safiedine, agents seized computers, checks, an Al-Mabarrat receipt, a Goodwill memo and a portrait of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

A woman who answered the phone at Safiedine's home said the family was not available to comment; Ghosn could not be reached.

Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said, "we're concerned about Al-Mabarrat being able to function, being allowed due process and not being tried in the court of public opinion."

He added, "Al-Mabarrat emphatically denies any connection to Hizballah."

Regarding the photo of Khomeini, Muslim leaders said that's protected under the Constitution.

"Having a picture or book related to a figure does not equal full endorsement," Walid said.(MORE)