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The Oregonian - July 22, 2006
Islamic charity will get literature back
BY ASHBEL S. GREEN
Federal officials on Friday agreed to return 155 cartons of religious literature seized two years ago from an Ashland-based Islamic charity, according to the charity's attorney.
"They are turning all the materials over to me. No strings attached," said Thomas Nelson, a Portland attorney representing the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.
Nelson filed suit earlier this year on behalf of Al-Haramain, claiming that the government's refusal to release the materials and allow their dissemination violated the charity's First Amendment rights.
In February 2004, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control seized the assets of Al-Haramain while investigating whether the charity was involved in terrorism. In September 2004, Treasury officials designated Al-Haramain a global terrorist organization, accusing it of sending money to Islamic fighters in Chechnya.
Al-Haramain officials have denied any wrongdoing and say the charity operated a prayer house and distributed Islamic literature to prison inmates.
As part of the asset seizure, treasury officials removed thousands of volumes of religious literature from the group's Ashland office.
A separate lawsuit filed earlier this year accuses the government of illegally eavesdropping on phone calls between U.S. Al-Haramain lawyers and a director in Saudi Arabia in 2004…..
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/115353152619990.xml&coll=7
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