ASSOCIATED PRESS: 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.
A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying—money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Siljander, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987. MORE
WIKIPEDIA: “I’m part of the silent majority that was heard Nov. 4 [when President Reagan was elected],” says Siljander. “My support comes from morally concerned citizens who are sick of the situation in this country.” Siljander pledges to battle the Equal Rights Amendment, pornography, abortion, school busing and “big spending.” He will champion the neutron bomb, the MX missile and prayer in public schools.[2]
WIKIPEDIA: In recent years has tried to publicize the common ground between Christianity and Islam, particularly in the portrayal of Jesus in the Qur’an. This is a turnaround from a previous position in which he objected to the Qur’an being read at a prayer breakfast, asking the emcee: “How can you read the book of the devil at a prayer breakfast?”[10] He described himself as “trained as an evangelical Christian; I was a poster boy for Jerry Falwell.”[10] He has written a book, A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman’s Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide, scheduled for release in June 2008. MORE