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March 8, 2007 A Palos Heights man was among five people indicted in Missouri for allegedly illegally funneling money to Iraq, authorities said. Charges unsealed in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday against Abdel Azim El-Siddiq, 50, and four others portray El-Siddiq as the vice president of the Islamic American Relief Agency, or IARA. The IARA also was indicted on allegations it illegally transferred $1.4 million to Iraq from 1991 to 2003, in violation of federal sanctions at the time. El-Siddiq was arrested about 5 p.m. Wednesday at O'Hare Airport as he got off a plane from the United Arab Emirates, an FBI official said. El-Siddiq's wife, Hanan, reached by phone at her home earlier in the day, was surprised to hear about her husband's then-pending arrest. "I think they made a very big mistake here," she said. "What is that? One day they come here, they knock on your door, and you are a thief, and you are accused?"
No allegations of terrorism
The IARA, based in Columbia, Mo., is an Islamic charitable organization closed in October 2004, when the U.S. Treasury Department deemed it a specially designated global terrorist organization. IARA was formerly known as the Islamic African Relief Agency-USA, which was suspected of financing al-Qaida. The charity has denied it financed terrorism. The charges revealed Wednesday did not allege terror funding. The individuals allegedly used the group's tax-exempt status as a charity to solicit the money, then illegally send it to Iraq. "The indictment does not specify the money's alleged intended purpose in Iraq," said Don Ledford, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Kansas City.
Wife disputes U.S. claims
Hanan El-Siddiq said her husband's involvement with IARA ended five years ago and that he was only a member. The group carried out humanitarian efforts, which had "nothing to do with Iraq," she said. IARA provided relief to struggling nations in Africa, Asia and South America, she said. El-Siddiq works as a consultant, helping design bridges in poor nations, she said. The couple immigrated here 20 years ago from Sudan and have four
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