Does this surprise anyone ?

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/17/america/Inauguration-
Prayer.php

Obama prayer leader from group US linked to Hamas

The Associated PressPublished: January 17, 2009

WASHINGTON: A Muslim scholar chosen to speak at President-elect Barack 
Obama's inaugural prayer service Wednesday is the leader of a group that 
federal prosecutors say has ties to terrorists.

Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, is 
one of many religious leaders scheduled to speak at the prayer service 
at Washington's National Cathedral.

Mattson has been the guest of honor at State Department dinners and has 
met with senior Pentagon officials during the Bush administration. She 
also spoke at a prayer service at the Democratic National Convention in 
Denver.

But in 2007 and as recently as last July, federal prosecutors in Dallas 
filed court documents linking the Hartford, Conn.-based Islamic society 
to the group Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.

Neither Mattson nor her organization have been charged. But prosecutors 
wrote in July that they had "a wide array of testimonial and documentary 
evidence expressly linking" the group to Hamas and other radical groups.


Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for Obama's inaugural committee, would not 
discuss the case or say whether the committee knew about it.

"She has a stellar reputation in the faith community," Douglass said 
Saturday night.

The existence of the court documents was first reported by Politico.

The Islamic Society of North America, which describes itself as "the 
nation's largest mainstream Muslim community-based organization," is 
fighting its inclusion on a list of coconspirators in the Dallas 
terrorism case against the Holy Land Foundation. In court documents, the 
group says it does not condone terrorism.

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Patriotism is not who can leak the most Secret documents to the NY Times ...

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