The Council on American Islamist Relations (CAIR) is reeling after a federal
grand jury charged one of its former senior staffers with conspiring to aid
Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization.

Former CAIR civil rights coordinator Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer faces
federal charges that he and others “conspired to provide material support to Osama
bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization and to his Taliban protectors in
Afghanistan,” according to the Washington Post.

Royer is one of 11 members of an alleged “jihad network” based in northern
Virginia to support al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorists. Four of the 11
already have pled guilty and are cooperating with federal authorities.

CAIR uses the civil rights issue as a cloak to protect itself and its allies
from allegations that they support terrorism, and consistently has denounced
federal counterterrorism efforts as being racist and bigoted.

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad has openly expressed support for Hamas
suicide bombers. Recently he declined to appear in person to testify before a
Senate subcommittee on terrorism and homeland security.

The new grand jury charges against Royer are the first to link a senior CAIR
figure directly to al Qaeda.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2003 and is filed under news.