Judge tosses Islamic charity's lawsuit

The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri charity accused of having ties to international terrorists has lost its bid to have its assets unfrozen.

In throwing out the lawsuit, a federal judge in Washington ruled Thursday that the Islamic American Relief Agency-USA financed terrorism and is connected to a similarly named Sudanese charity, the Islamic African Relief Agency. That group is accused of supporting al-Qaida and its predecessor, Maktab al-Khidamat.

The Columbia-based charity has denied the allegations.

The charity's assets were frozen in October 2004, after federal agents raided its headquarters as part of a criminal investigation. The Treasury Department also made it illegal for people to send contributions to the charity.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton concluded in his 36-page order that the Treasury Department had ample authority to freeze the charity's bank accounts as part of the government's war on terrorism.

Quoting an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Walton wrote: "As the circuit court stated, 'There is no constitutional right to fund terrorism.' And the record evidence supports the conclusion that the IARA-USA has done exactly that."

Calling the ruling a disappointment, a lawyer for the charity said he was exploring the group's legal options. Shareef Akeel said nothing in the public part of the record showed that the Columbia charity had sent money out of the country for illegal purposes.

"We did not fund terrorism," said the Michigan lawyer, who was not permitted to review the classified evidence. "There is no evidence to suggest that."

The Treasury Department, meanwhile, was pleased.

"The ruling ... affirms the Treasury's authority to designate and freeze the assets of those bankrolling terrorism," said Molly Millerwise, a spokeswoman on terrorism issues. "We are committed to utilizing our financial tools to identify and disrupt the financial webs of terrorist organizations worldwide."