Successors at MSA Board Huma served on at GWU include al-Qaeda terrorist, IIRO leader

Things are getting interesting with respect to the history of the George Washington University (GWU) chapter of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) - in particular, the 1997 - 2002 timeframe.

Earlier this week, we reported that Huma Abedin served on the Board of GWU's chapter of the MSA in 1997 and left some time before early 1999. Andrew McCarthy then rightfully pointed out that none other than notorious al-Qaeda figure Anwar al-Awlaki served on the same Board, though after Abedin left; al-Awlaki served as a "Chaplain" on GWU's MSA Board from late 2001 - 2002.

That leads us to another "Chaplain" who served on the same MSA Board alongside al-Awlaki - and for a much longer period of time. Mohamed S. Omeish served as "Chaplain" from at least October, 1999 - April, 2002. During the time when both men served on the MSA Board at GWU, they were the only two listed as Chaplains.

If one has a difficult time finding it significant that while Huma and al-Awlaki served on the Board but never together, perhaps the significance of al-Awlaki and Omeish serving on the Board together - and in the same capacity - will not be lost on them. Omeish is a rather big fish when it comes to the nexus between the Muslim World League and the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, if one believes that al-Qaeda leadership is expendable while leaders of organizations that have been known to finance them are not, the fates of both al-Awlaki and Omeish may just serve as the perfect microcosm.

In his 2005 book, Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington, Paul Sperry identified Mohamed S. Omeish as the president of the U.S. Branch of a very powerful Muslim organization, the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO). Sperry made reference to this in a 2007 article at Front Page Magazine:

Mohamed Omeish headed the U.S. branch of one of bin Laden's favorite Saudi charities, the International Islamic Relief Organization, which was raided after 9/11. Tax records I've obtained show Omeish shared an office with Alamoudi, the convicted al-Qaida-tied terrorist and godfather of the Muslim mafia in America. This is the same "moderate" Muslim leader who federal prosecutors caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans.

The IIRO was formed under the Muslim World League (MWL), again, a large Saudi Arabian umbrella group whose Secretary General from 1983 - 1993 was none other than Abdullah Omar Naseef. It's important to remember at this point that from 1996 - 2003, both Naseef and Huma Abedin served on the Board of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs. Huma served on the IMMA Board as Assistant Editor from 1996 - 2008 while also serving on the same MSA Board in 1997 that would later welcome Omeish and al-Awlaki as Muslim "Chaplain(s)". As the leader of IIRO in the United States, Omeish led a group created with the help of Naseef's MWL.

Incidentally, two IIRO branch offices - in the Philippines and Indonesia - were listed as terrorist entities by the United Nations as recently as May of 2011.

Click here for a chart that explains Naseef's role with and ties to MWL and IIRO.

Moreover, according to Sperry, Omeish shared an office with none other than Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was convicted of charges related to terrorism in 2004. The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report provides a bit more detail on the relationship between Mohamed Omeish and Alamoudi:

According to the sworn statement of a US federal law enforcement officer as well as various public records, Mohamed Omeish is also an officer of the American Muslim Foundation and the Success Foundation both located at the same address as the MAS headquarters in Virginia. The former President of the American Muslim Foundation and Secretary of the Success Foundation was Abdul Rahman Alamoudi, convicted in a plot to murder Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah on behalf of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Both organizations received donations from the SAAR Foundation where Mr. Alamoudi was employed as an executive Assistant during the 1990s’.

So even if one ignores Huma Abedin's time at IMMA, the MSA charter at GWU raises more red flags. Ms. Abedin served on the Board of an organization whose future Board members had direct ties with or included Anwar al-Awlaki and Abdurahman Alamoudi.

Let's take a look at another Omeish - Mohamed's brother, Esam. In Sperry's 2007 article, he identified Esam as the head of the Muslim American Society (MAS) who hired the man who served as a Chaplain alongside Esam's brother:

Esam S. Omeish also sits on the board of the 9/11-tied mosque in Washington that helped the hijackers get licenses and housing, and whose imam prepared them for martyrdom operations in private closed-door sessions. Omeish personally hired the imam, Anwar Aulaqi, who fled the country on a Saudi jet about a year after 9/11...

A few months prior to the Fort Hood shootings, before which shooter Nidal Malik Hasan is known to have corresponded with al-Awlaki several times via email, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited Esam onto a conference call, which he attended. When the State Department was asked if it was aware of Esam's background, the question apparently fell on deaf ears.

Via Fox News:

The State Department has not replied to questions as to whether it was aware of Omeish's past comments when he was selected as one of approximately 100-200 invitees to participate in the conference, which included academics and Muslim leaders.

Aside from it being the State Department's job to know such things, it was also asked this question at a time when Huma Abedin was still Clinton's closest advisor. Are we to believe Huma knew nothing of Essam's background? Wouldn't it have been easy for her to reach out the MSA chapter at GWU, where she once served as a Board member, to find out?

The Fox article quoted Esam Omeish from the conference call as well:

In the conference call with Clinton last week, which was advertised as a forum to discuss how to bridge the divide between the United States and the Muslim community, Omeish expressed support for President Obama and offered that Muslim-Americans needed to get more involved in politics.

In 2007, Esam had to resign as a member of Virginia's Commission of Immigration after video of him in December of 2000 surfaced. Ironically, that video was shot just outside the White House, which was still occupied by the Clintons at the time. Here is an excerpt from that video:



Discover the Networks reports that Esam also resigned his post at MAS after the video surfaced. Again, are we to believe, based on the State Department's silence, coupled with its inclusion of Esam on the 2009 conference call, that they were unaware of Esam's history?

Another video from 2006 captured Esam calling for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Perhaps the most attention-grabbing moment comes at the 3:00 mark, when Esam calls on George W. Bush to "stop calling Islam 'Islamic fascism'".



Unfortunately for Esam, that's not what Bush said and by alleging that he did, Esam entered dangerous territory. Peaceful practitioners of Islam should have agreed with Bush's word choice. Those who didn't warrant increased suspicion.

Here is video of George W. Bush referring to America's enemies as 'Islamic fascists'. It would be the first and last time he used that term.



The subject of Huma Abedin's Form 86 has come up in the past. Should we not also learn about her time at the MSA and if she had any connections with Board members who succeeded her, especially since a few of them have turned out to be either notorious and/or suspicious?

Ben Barrack is a talk show host and author of the book, Unsung Davids