The mother of Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for Senate in Michigan from a far-left perspective, has ties to an organization that has been labeled a “global terrorist” group. This organization has been accused of directing funds to figures like Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and Hamas, as reported recently.
Fatten Fathy Elkomy, El-Sayed’s biological mother, was employed by the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) from 1999 until at least 2004, a time when the U.S. Treasury Department made connections between the agency and terrorism, as highlighted by Midwestern.
IARA operated numerous offices globally and presented itself as a humanitarian entity aiming to provide medical assistance and support for orphans and those in need in conflict zones.
However, the Treasury Department noted that, as the Islamic African Relief Agency, it had “provided direct financial support” to bin Laden, the orchestrator of the 9/11 attacks. In a statement from 2004, they indicated that foreign affiliates of IARA transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to him back in 1999.
The organization is also said to have provided assistance to other militant groups, including Hamas and Taliban fighters.
IARA-US faced indictment by the Department of Justice in March 2007 over allegations of transferring funds illegally to Iraq.
It’s worth noting that Mr. Elkomy has not faced any accusations of wrongdoing, and although the federal lawsuit against IARA included several names, none have been charged with terrorism-related offenses.
IARA-USA, in 2016, agreed to disband following a guilty plea concerning the illegal transfer of nearly $1.4 million to Iraq along with conspiring to breach sanctions.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a statement regarding the plea agreement, explaining that due to its designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization and the subsequent blocking of assets, IARA lacked the funds to satisfy the imposed fine.
In a 2004 interview, El-Sayed’s mother refuted any allegations linking IARA to terrorism, emphasizing her work in aiding orphans and children who had lost parents. “It breaks my heart that they don’t get any help,” she had expressed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
El-Sayed’s parents moved to the U.S. in the early 1980s, subsequently divorced, and both remarried. Throughout his campaign, El-Sayed has mentioned his father, Mohamed El-Sayed, and stepmother, Jacqueline El-Sayed, frequently, while references to El-Komy have been sparse, according to Midwestern.
After remarrying, Elkomy initially returned to the Middle East but later came back to the States, where she still works as a nurse in Missouri.
The newspaper has reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for a response.
