US court upholds Islamic charity terrorist status

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the US government's decision to freeze the assets of an Islamic charity with alleged links to a Sudanese group that supports terrorism. The Treasury Department claims the Islamic American Relief Agency-USA is an affiliate of the Islamic African Relief Agency, a Sudan-based charity the US government accuses of financing al-Qaida and other terror organizations. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with a lower court's 2005 decision finding that the charity is a branch of the Sudanese-based agency. The charity did not contest the terrorist designation of the Sudanese group, but claims the organizations have independent leaders and separate bank accounts. The group was founded by a Sudanese immigrant in 1985 to raise money for humanitarian activities around the world.