The Federation of Islamic Organizations In Europe (FIOE) has announced that its Dutch member organization is co-sponsoring a conference in May together with an organization with extensive ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood and Saudi Salafi scholars. According to the announcement:
The International Support Organization in collaboration with the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Holland is organizing a conference in the capital city of Amsterdam in the period from the 28th to the 30th of May 2010 with the title of: Islam in Holland – Meditating on the Present and Future Horizons. This conference aims at initiating positive methodological dialogue between Muslims and Dutch political, intellectual and religious activists, hoping to clarify opinions and remove misunderstandings around controversial or critical issues pertaining to Muslims or other segments, in order to achieve positive communication and strengthen social co-existence and support cooperation amongst members of the community, to serve the general good within the context of citizenship. The conference will issue a concluding statement under the title of the “Document of Diverse Consensus” which will be presented in the final session, after deliberations with all participating parties in the conference, such that it tackles all points which were under discussion in brief summaries. These results will be considered as starting points for work and collaboration in society during the period after the conference as well as the possibility of cascading them to societies and institutions to gain their endorsement of this document, so that it could become like a constitution of common effort in Dutch society.
The ISO has numerous ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood. The official Kuwaiti government web site reported in 2008 that global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi was the chairman of the ISO which held its second annual conference in that country, supported by the Amir of Kuwait and attended by Dr. Adel Abdullah Al-Falah, identified below as an official of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. The web site of the Federation of Islamic Organizations In Europe (FIOE) suggested in late 2009 that the ISO also has a relationship with FIOE, representing the European Muslim Brotherhood. According to an Islamic news source in 2007, the International Support Organization (ISO) was registered in the US and Salman al-Oadah (aka Salman Bin Fahd Al Ouda, Salman Al-`Udah, Salman Al Awda), recently known to be a sympathizer of Osama Bin Laden, was chosen as its General Secretary. The ISO was described as follows:
The International Support Organization has been registered in the United States as an independent organization with the purpose of coordinating the efforts of Muslim individuals and organizations in support of the Prophet’s good name. Sheikh Salman al-Oadah, who was chosen to be the organization’s General Secretary, stated that “it is an international nonprofit organization whose aim is to convey to the people of the world the message of Islam and to teach them about the character of its Prophet (peace be upon him) through effective use of the media, and we hope that everyone who can share in this effort will do so.” The International Support Organization will endeavor to carry out the recommendations of the International Conference for the Support of the Prophet that was convened in Bahrain during the month of March 2006.
Maryland corporate records show that a business known as the International Support Organization Inc. was registered at a Silver Springs address on July 18. 2006 with Asim Ghafoor serving as the Registered Agent. Mr. Ghafoor is a Maryland attorney and former Congressional staffer who was a spokesman in late 2001 for the Global Relief Foundation, designated by the US Treasury in 2002 as a terrorist entity in connection with support for Al Qaeda. Mr. Ghafoor was also associated with the American Muslim Council whose leader Abdul Rahman Alamoudi, an important leader in the US Muslim Brotherhood, was convicted in a plot to murder Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah on behalf of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi.
UK corporate records also show that the ISO was also registered as a private company in the UK on November 28, 2006. UK corporate records also show that two of the directors of the ISO UK, Ahmed Mohammed Sheikh and Said Ferjani, are associated with the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), an important part of the UK Muslim Brotherhood.
Important Global Muslim Brotherhood leaders invited to the Dutch conference include:
- Ali Al Kardaghy (aka Ali Qaradaghi)- European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), Qatari Sharia scholar
- Gamal Badawy (aka Jamal Badawi)- US Muslim Brotherhood leader, ECFR, International Union of Muslim Scholars (headed by Qaradawi)
- Ahmed Gab Allah (aka Ahmed Jaballah)- leader in the French Muslim Brotherhood, FIOE
- Dr.Fouad Elwy (aka Fouad Aloui)- leader of the Union des organisations islamiques de France (UOIF), French Muslim Brotherhood
- Adel Al Fallah –Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Kuwait
- Mutlak Al Karawy Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Kuwait
Also invited are two well-known individuals associated with the Saudi Salafi movement:
- Dr. Salman Bin Fahd Al Ouda (aka Salman Al-`Udah,
- Gaafar Al Sheikh Idrees (aka Gaafar Idris,) Saudi-born Sudanese expelled from the US 2003
Both men are known to have been tied to the Islamic Assembly of North America, thought by US prosecutors in 2003 to have promoted teachings and religious fatwas that advocated violence against the United States —
Conference invitees from Holland include six Dutch academics, several of which were described by contacts in the Netherlands as sympathetic to the global Muslim Brotherhood.
The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Holland (FION) is the Dutch member organization of the Federation of Islamic Organizations In Europe (FIOE), the umbrella organization representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Previous posts have discussed FION and its leader Yahia Bouyafa.