"Islamist Networks in the United States"

A Luncheon with Rita Katz, Director of the SITE Institute

November 19, 2003

At a luncheon at the Nixon Center, Rita Katz, author of Terrorist Hunter (2003) and director of the SITE Institute described the connections between Muslim charities, think tanks, university programs, advocacy groups, mosques, Saudi conglomerates, and terrorist organizations in the United States.  These organizations, closely involved with Hamas, al Qaeda, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and others, have a long established presence in the U.S. through a complex and interlocking network. 

Ms. Katz and her colleagues have searched documents in the public record, such as incorporation papers, annual reports, company directorates, income tax records, as well as court papers and public databases.  Coupled with her undercover investigations in mosques and at conventions, this research has allowed Ms. Katz to discover the links between terrorists and terrorist supporting groups in the U.S.  She has briefed officials at the Treasury Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Council, and the State Department.

In order to understand the network operating in the U.S., we must look at jihadist terror groups as outgrowths of the fundamentalist Islamist movement, spearheaded by the Muslim Brotherhood.  The Muslim Brotherhood was formed in the late 1920s under the British mandate in Egypt on the heels of the breakup of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. Though Palestinian jihadist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are known as foes of Israel in a national struggle and al Qaeda is known as the global terrorist organization, they all share a common ideology and work together.  Al Qaeda, for example, has provided the framework and the training for many of the other jihadist groups, and some members of al Qaeda, Hamas, PIJ, and other terrorist groups studied at the same schools and organizations, influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood.  These terrorist groups draw upon the same networks and organizations for support.  While their theaters of operation may be different, their overall goals often overlap and create a dangerous network. 

The American network has been in place for a generation, and the operators have become adept at taking advantage of American freedoms to pursue their agendas.  They adopt a public stance of moderation that allows them to obtain audiences with senior administration officials and visit secure locations.  The case of Sami al Arian is instructive.  A University of South Florida professor educated in the U.S., al Arian set up a think tank attached to USF, the World Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE).  Through WISE, al Arian procured visas for the leadership of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to come to the U.S.  WISE was also used to obtain visits to secure government installations and to hold conferences where individuals later convicted of participating in terrorist plots gave speeches and raised money. 

Ms. Katz asserted that Islamist terror groups are also linked together through their funding networks.  She noted that the government believes that this funding network may have its epicenter with the SAAR Network, which is suspected by the government of funneling money to terrorism.  The SAAR Network (sometimes referred to as the Safa Group) has its headquarters at 555 Grove Street in Herndon, Virginia.  This address is also used by about 100 other companies, charities, and foundations, many of which were described by the U.S. government after 9/11 as using the layers of companies to funnel money to terrorism.  Ms. Katz’s work before 9/11 greatly contributed to what government officials knew about 555 Grove Street and her information was instrumental in launching a massive ongoing investigation of the SAAR Network.

Ms. Katz also highlighted the linkages between Saudi Arabia and terrorist groups.  A Saudi governmental charity, the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), widely believed to be used by al-Qaeda, is a subsidiary of the Muslim World League, the Kingdom’s umbrella relief group.  The Muslim World League is an organization controlled and funded by the Saudi government and provides employees with Saudi diplomatic passports, making it extremely easy to travel internationally.  Several individuals who have been convicted of terrorism around the world worked as employees of the Muslim World League.

A senior FBI official corroborated Ms. Katz’s descriptions of Islamic networks in the United States, asserting that her portrayal of the networks was “incredibly accurate.”  These linkages signify that the U.S. must confront all Islamist terror groups, not just al Qaeda.  An important way to counter terrorism is through education.  Saudi- funded textbooks used in some U.S. Islamic schools urge jihad against Christians and Jews.  Speeches glorifying jihad are still being preached in mosques in Saudi Arabia and the U.S., even after 9/11.  While many of these hateful preachers hide behind Western rights such as freedom of speech, they must take responsibility for their words that will create a new generation of individuals from which terrorist groups can recruit.  Moderate Muslim organizations must be nurtured and legitimized to combat fundamentalist rhetoric.  Many moderate groups lack the funding to make their voices heard and are sometimes afraid to speak out as they are often blackballed, intimidated, or in rare cases killed.       

This program brief was prepared by Immigration and National Security Program Assistant Steven Brooke.