Tuesday, Sep. 19 2006 - COLUMBIA, Mo.:
One day after an FBI raid of his home, an Islamic community leader and critic of the war in Iraq said Tuesday that the agents told him they were interested in his links to a Michigan charity that also was searched.Posted on 20 September 2006 @ 09:50 GMTShakir Abdul-Kaf Hamoodi, a former University of Missouri-Columbia engineering professor who now owns an international grocery store here, said agents were interested in his connection to the Southfield, Mich., Muslim humanitarian relief organization Life for Relief and Development.
An FBI spokesman declined to reveal the reasons for the search. Hamoodi, who was provided a copy of the sealed search warrant, declined a request by The Associated Press to review the document.
A dozen agents arrived at the southwest Columbia home of Hamoodi and his wife, Lamya Mukhlef Najem, about 8 a.m. Monday and removed boxes and computer equipment throughout the day.
Hamoodi said he was in Detroit on Monday morning but not working for the relief agency. When he asked agents if the search could wait until he returned to Missouri, they said no, citing the simultaneous search in Michigan, he said.
Hamoodi said he cooperated with federal investigators.
"They came in, asked questions, I told them the answers and they left," he told the Columbia Missourian. Hamoodi declined to specify what questions he was asked.
Hamoodi said he has worked as a paid organizer and fundraiser for the organization for several years. Though he travels throughout the country on its behalf, Hamoodi said he has not gone abroad with the organization.
The charity's head of legal services told the Detroit Free Press that the FBI wanted to find out whether the charity broke U.S. sanctions by doing business in Iraq before the war.
Hamoodi, 54, grew up in Anah, a town in central Iraq, and lived in Scotland and France before moving to Columbia 21 years ago. He earned a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia before working as an assistant research professor for the school's College of Engineering.