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Militant Islam Monitor > Satire > "Who is guarding the guardians ?" Faux moderate Muqtedar Khan speaks on Islam at US army base & Wahabist terrorism conference

"Who is guarding the guardians ?" Faux moderate Muqtedar Khan speaks on Islam at US army base & Wahabist terrorism conference

Muqtedar Khan: Islamist chameleon -receives US army tokens of esteem at Arsenal Island - blasts US gov and military - justifies suicide bombers
December 15, 2004

Muqtedar Khan

Guest speaker at US arsenal and at Wahabist conference in Riyadh, is also colleague of Al Muhajiroun spokesman Kamran Bokhari

by Beila Rabinowitz

MIM: Muqtedar Khan likes to cultivate the image of a 'moderate Muslim' his own writings,statements, and associations all attest to someone who is a calculated opportunist who is "playing both sides of the fence" for professional gain and personal prestige. Khan's alliances with people such as Kamran Bokhari, the spokesman of Al Muhjiroun in the US, his publication of his work on I views, the website edited by CAIR's ex communications director Ismail Randall Royer who was jailed last year on terrorism charges, and Khan's with militant Islamist groups and individuals both in the US are the hallmarks of a fith columnist. Below is a list of Khan's activities which prove his duplicity and a serious lapse on the part of the American government and the armed forces to vet Muslims out of a political correctness, which in Khan's case translates into gross neglience.

This October Muqtedar Khan was invited to speak at the Army Field support command at the Rock Island Arsenal at Rock Island in Quad City Illinois. According to his own weblog Muqtedar Khan recounts that :

"I was there at the generous invitation of Brigadier General Jerome Johnson.General Johnson is a an extraordinary leader ,highly respected and admired by his staff and a man who keeps an open mind".

Brigadier General Jerome Johnson is described in a press release bio as no less then the :

,"...Director of Plans, Operations and Readiness, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4, United States Army, Washington, DC, to Commanding General, United States Army Field Support Command, Rock Island, Illinois. http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2004/nr20040430-1181.html

Muqtedar Khan boasted that:

"I gave a lecture that had three parts-Islam -the realities of the Muslim World-and US policies in the Muslim World.I enjoyed the question and answer session and was delighted to receive two coins- they are medals that Generals and Commanding officers present to people as a sign of esteem- from the general and then proceeded to see the arsenal on display."

Even more alarming and dismaying then the fact that a high ranking US army official would be fooled into thinking that Khan is a moderate, when a simple Google search reveals ample evidence of the opposite,such as his support for suicide bombings against American troops in Iraq,which he justifies as understandable acts of frustration".

"The deaths of their own families, the destruction of their homes — all these are leading to frustration and anger and hopelessness, and they want the enemy to feel the same frustration and hopelessness, so they are resorting to this violence," said Muqtedar Khan, visiting fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and an expert in political Islam".http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=331020

.When it comes to blowing up Jews he warns terrorists that they 'generate sympathy for Israel'. (see below)

Mugtedar Khan was not only given access to a United States army installation,he was given the opportunity to propagandize about Islam at a "conference of military field commanders" and was given two coin medals by Brigadier General Jerome Johnson 'as a token of esteem'." . Less then one month later Khan was quoted by ABC News justifying the Iraqis who become suicide bombers to kill American soldiers.

The arsenal is in the words of their own website :"

"The Rock Island Arsenal is an active U.S. army factory,which manufactures ordinance and equipment for the armed forces .It is located on Arsenal Island in the Missippi River".

Besides assess to an arsenal where he was photographed in front of an "atomic bomb tank' Khan was also given two coin award medals and lectured to top military officials about Islam. This outrageous breach of national security and travesty of the war on terror necessitated that this piece's placement on the satire webpage.

After the security debacle which involved the now head of the Islamic Jihad in Syria, Ramadan Shallah, who had been invited to give lectures to military personeel from Cent Com at McDill Air Base,( with the help of Fifth Columnist USF professor Arthur Lowrie) ,one would have expected that the army would be more careful in vetting their Muslim speakers. Instead, Islamist Khan, was not only given a 'tokens of esteem' by US army officials but was able to roam the grounds of a working US arsenal factory where he had a picture taken of himself, in front of an "atomic canon".Khan remarked in his blog that " as a student in the 9th grade he had done a survey of the nuclear armament of the US and the Soviet Union..." . No doubt he also took pictures of the arsenal himself . http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/276

In April of 2004 Khan was photographed standing in front of the Great Mosque in Mecca where he attended a conference at Al Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud University on "Islam and Terrorism". The conference was sponsored by one of the biggest Saudi Wahabi groups and was actually called : "The Islamic Stand on Terrorism Violence and Extremism". 'According to the program of the conference (see complete text below) the purpose of the conference was to have the Imam Muhammed Bin Saud Islamic University "clarify it's stance towards the deviated thought and would defuse the accusations against Islam"..." Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz would attend the conference which he also financed.

According to a 2004 Washington Post report, the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences which was recently raided by the JTFF and the FBI is an outpost of the Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University and "a main citadel of Wahabi instruction. Khan makes a point of recounting that he spoke critically about Wahabism at the Riyadh conference" which begs the question as to what he was doing there in the first place ( perhaps to lend them the use of his facade of legitimacy as a false moderate), and if the Wahabists who organised the conference paid his expenses..

"...In 1989, the Saudis also set up a high-powered Islamic learning center, the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, in Fairfax. The institute is an outpost of the Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, the main citadel for Wahhabi instruction.

In addition King Fahd's son financed the San Diego Islamic Center which hosted 2 of the 9 11 hijackers.

"...An Aug. 19 article on Saudi religious influence in the United States incorrectly reported that Crown Prince Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz is the son of King Fahd and joined with the king in donating $8 million to build the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, Calif. The donation with the king was made by his son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd..."

"...In May 2003, the State Department refused reentry to the chief imam of the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, Fahad al Thumairy, who also was a Saudi diplomat at the consulate in Los Angeles. The Sept. 11 commission report later said the State Department had determined "he might be connected with terrorist activity."

The report also said that two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar, "spent time at the King Fahd mosque and made some acquaintances there..."

It is reassuring to know that Khan boasts on his website of "being brutally critical of Wahabism "and makes a point of saying that people at the conference "nodded and shook his hand" .Most likely in a show of tacit acknowledgement that they knew his 'brutal criticism' was pro forma since he had been invited in the understanding that he would function as ' token moderate'. Apparently Khan's criticism was not "brutal" enough to make him "persona non grata' in the Kingdom. As non infidel Khan was able to utilize the "Muslim's Only" highway to make a trip to Mecca where the 'Islamist in infidel' clothing was photographed in front of the Grand Mosque, whose patron, Prince Abdullah Abdulaziz sponsored his conference. As one of the speakers, Khan persumably did not have to pay expenses, and it is also doubtful if his being "brutally critical" of his hosts would prevent them from inviting him to future events.

Even a cursory 'Googling" of Khan could have spared the Army a vetting process and would have revealed Muqtedar Khan's friendship with Kamran Bokhari. Kamran Bokhari is the North American spokesman for the group Al Muhajiroun. which professor Daniel Pipes characterised as : "One of the most extremist groups operating in the West today". Bokhari is a close colleague of Khan, and both are members of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists, Wahabi funded 'think tanks' which are linked to the International Institute of Islamic Thought, which was raided in 2003 by the FBI for it's links to terror funding. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/214

While Khan cultivates the facade of a moderate , Bokhari describes himself as a "post Islamist", whose activities include being the secretary of the AMSS pursuing one of many degrees at Howard University (a hub of Islamism) and a job as a "geo political consultant" at Stratfor aka Strategic Forecasting Inc. Stratfor was described as a "semi private CIA" and it's CEO is George Friedman. A recent interview with Friedman revealed that Bokhari is ' affectionately referred to by his colleagues as our resident Jihadist'. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/233

In 1999, while a student at Southwest Missouri State University Kamran Bokhari helped to organise the Islamic Center of Springfield, which was closed down by the US treasury department in 2004 for ties to Al Qaeda funding and the Saudi Al Haramain, part of the same Wahabist network which finances the AMSS ,CSID, and the 'Islam and terrorism' conference in Riyadh attended by Khan.Acting AMSS secretary and interim treasurer Bokhari, who was head of the MSA at SMSU,had this to say as spokesman for Al Muhajiroun at a university forum in 1999.

"...As a Muslim, I am concerned that through this "Get Ussamah Bin Ladin" campaign, the U.S. government is trying to distort and obscure reality. Those who oppose Western (in particular United States) hegemony and neo-colonialism are declared "terrorists." It is no secret that the intelligence apparatus of hegemonic nations like the United States and the United Kingdom, through their embassies, conduct operations under the cloak of diplomatic immunity.." http://www.southweststandard.com/93-22/spotlight.html

Bokhari made these remarks as head of Al Muhajiroun whose group displayed on their website a picture of the Capitol building in flames, indicating one of their targets.

Muqtedar Khan and Bokhari have worked together on several 'academic' endeavors, and in October of 2004 they were photographed together in Washington,DC with a still intact Capitol building in the background.

It appears that Muqtedar Khan and Kamran Bokhari,. have suceeded in "distorting and obscuring reality" to the point where they have parlayed their Jihadism into a valuable job asset. Muqtedar Khan's blog detailing his saga from speaker at Islamist conferences in Milwaukee, to invited and honored guest to Arsenal Island, a US army munitions production plant, to a Wahabist "Islam and Terrorism' conference in Riyadh, shows a cameleon like ability which is the classical MO of an Islamist.

The US Army must try to exercise some form of damage control immediately . In the 1990's Ramadan Shallah lectured twice to the US military Cent Com in Florida ,before leaving to take over leadership of Islamic Jihad, in Syria where he is now encouraging his followers to lauch suicide attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.

In a post 9/11 world, one can only blink in disbelief, when Islamist professors like Muqtedar Khan who openly express their disdain for the United States government and military , are being invited by people like Brigadier General Jerome Johnson, to lecture to top military officials at a US military arsenal.On his website Khan lists :Bush's: "Hall of Shame" and has pictures of "The Bigot: General Boykin -"The Taliban" John Ashcroft -"The Tyrant: Donald Rumsfeld and ironically concludes with this statement:

"...It is a tragedy that President Bush who promised to bring dignity, integrity and morality to the White House continues to defend and support those who brought shame and bad name to American itself. Remember the old saying: A man is known by the company he keeps..."

The US military's invitation to Muqtedar Khan, and their awarding him two coin medals as a' token of esteem 'only compounds the enormity of the travesty of national security and the war on terror which took place at the army munitions factory on Arsenal Island. Shades of Shallah and Cent Com - deja vu all over again .The question which is begging to be answered can be found in the words of the satirist Juvenal : "Who is guarding the guardians?".

Copyright(c) 2004 Beila Rabinowitz Militant Islam Monitor

This article can also be found on Wahabi Watch at Pipe Line News:

http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=rabinowitz%2Ehtm

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MIM:Muqtedar Khan has a website called Ijtihad and writes a weblog called "Glocal Eye- Muqtedar Khan's Comments on Global Affairs": Below are some excerpts from his site in which he explains how Arab suicide attacks' help Israel ',and that and a vilification of the Bush administration and the US military. In a recent ABC News article Khan was quoted justifying Iraqi suicide attacks against American soldiers as acts of "frustration".http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=331020

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From Khan's website and 'Globalog':

http://www.ijtihad.org/globalog.htm

MIM: Muqtedar Khan's phony moderation is exposed by his remarks in which he justifies suicide bombing in Iraq because Iraqs feel "frusturated and hopeless" . He does not blame Hamas or Islamic Jihad for their actions but laments that they have "given ammunition to the media" "To paint Palestinians as terrorists".

From Khan's Globalog :"...The two faces of Palestine: Victim of an American armed, American funded and American protected colonial power and as a source of terror -- in the name of Islam -- that is motivated by hate and desire for taking innocent lives. The crimes of the latter continue to prolong the suffering of the former.

"Pro-Israeli forces, friendly media, strong lobby, Christian eschatology, have all managed to blunt American conscience essentially because of the tactics of Islamist groups such as Hamas and Islamic jihad. Their terrorism that targets Israeli civilians has provided a lot of ammunition for the media, the politicians and the preachers, to paint Palestinians as terrorists and Israelis as victims.

The recent brutal response of Israel and the reluctant criticism from the American establishment, including a rare moment when the US did not use its veto to allow a security council condemnation (14-0 with US abstaining) all are indicative as to how Israel will have no leg to stand on if Palestinians abstain from terror. Notice Israeli response to the killing of a dozen soldiers is more brutal and more comprehensive than any of its responses to suicide attacks on civilians. Suicide attacks on civilians help Israel. Attacks on soldiers hurt Israel. Hence the all out assault."

Khan on Iraqi suicide to ABC News 12/04:

The deaths of their own families, the destruction of their homes — all these are leading to frustration and anger and hopelessness, and they want the enemy to feel the same frustration and hopelessness, so they are resorting to this violence," said Muqtedar Khan, visiting fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and an expert in political Islam. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=331020

MIM: Muqtedar Khan on Arsenal Island - A US military munitions production site : 2004

Khan in his 'Globalog':"The M65 atomic cannon is a 280 MM, 47 ton mobile cannon that needs two trucks to move it at a maximum speed of 30 miles. It was capable of firing TNWs [tactical nuclear weapons] and conventional shells up to a range of 18 miles. It became obsolete as a result of the astronomical development in rocket technology which now provides both tactical as well as strategic delivery capabilities for all kinds of war heads.

It was a fun trip.

My final stop was a military commanders conference at the Army Field Support Command and the Rock Island Arsenal at the historic Rock Island in Quad City, Illinois. I was there at the generous invitation of Brigadier General Jerome Johnson. General Johnson is an extraordinary leader, highly respected and admired by his staff and also a man who keeps an open mind.

I gave a long lecture that had three parts -- Islam, the realities of the Muslim World and US policy in the Muslim World. I enjoyed the question and answer session, was delighted to receive two coins -- they are medals that Generals and Commanding Officers present to people as a sign of esteem -- from the general and then proceeded to view the arsenal on display.

As a student in ninth grade (1979) I had done a survey of the nuclear armament of the US and the Soviet Union, and was fascinated to discover that the US had actually designed a canon that would fire atomic bombs! I finally saw that experimental gun."

MIM: From Khan's 'Globalog' in which he calls General Boykin an Islamophobe,John Ashcoft 'The Taliban' and the Defense Secretary of the U.S., Donald Rumsfeld "A Tyrant' : http://www.ijtihad.org/globalog.htm

" Here is a look at Bush's Hall of Shame"

The Taliban: Attorney General Ashcroft is in charge of the Bush administration's domestic crusade. Extremely popular with the Christian Right, Ashcroft is the father of the US Patriot act which rewrites the US constitution through legislation. He is the complete opposite of Thomas Jefferson. In one stroke this man has suspended the entire Bill of Rights. In keeping with the Bush administration's tradition, he too is on record for making Islamopheobic comments. Ashcroft also has the dubious achievement of having lost an election to a dead man. It is a shame that people like him are in charge of "justice".

The Tyrant: Donald Rumsfeld

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is at once the star and the black sheep of the Bush administration. He is to international relations what Ashcroft is to domestic politics. Rumsfeld's cavalier attitude towards international law and the Geneva conventions on how to treat prisoners [he refuses to adhere to international law on how to treat prisoners in Guantanamo Bay] is the principle reason for declining of professionalism and discipline in the US army culminating in the shame of Abu Ghraib. He told the Senate that he took "full responsibility" for what happened. What does that mean? Nothing. Like General Boykin, he too enjoys his President's support.

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MIM: Khan and friends Anas Malik (right) and Kamran Bokhari (center) Oct.19,2004

Bokhari is the North American spokesman for Al Muhajiroun labelled by Dr.Pipes as "one of the most extremist groups in the West today". The group's website showed a picture of the US Capitol building in flames.http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/233 (see picture at the bottom of the page)

Anas Malik is a professor at De Pauw university who praised CAIR at an ISNA conference and "stressed the importance of flak campaigns' by Muslims" to influence the corporate mass media". http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp? id=12159

Khan:"My first stop was the South Asia Conference at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I presented a paper titled "Islam, Democracy and Terrorism in South Asia" on a panel titled Islam in South Asia with Anas Malik of Xavier's University and Kamran Bokhari of Howard University.

I argued that Islam was constitutive to the South Asian identity, enjoying various degrees of institutionalization in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; Democracy was congenital since all the three nations were born democratic and terrorism was chronic to the region. The point being that the region demonstrates that not only Islam and democracy, but democracy and terrorism can co-exist, questioning the wisdom."

Outside the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

http://www.ijtihad.org/globalog.htm

Khan:"I have recently attended two conferences on Islam and terrorism. One was hosted by Imam Muhammad University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (April 20-22) [Reflections will be posted soon] and the other was organized by the Center for Terrorism at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York (May 4-5). The first thing that I would like to report is that at both the conferences severe criticism was welcomed and appreciated.

"In Riyadh I was brutally critical of Wahabism and the intolerance it teaches and people kept nodding their heads and shaking my hand. In new York I was equally brutal in my criticism of Bush's foreign policy [I compared it to Kevin Costner's career, they both have a tendency to produce colossal failures] and it too was well received".

MIM: Khan's mendacity, in boasting that he was "brutally critical of Wahabism and that "people kept nodding their heads and shaking their hand" . He was invited by the Saudi Wahabists and probably had his expenses paid and made his remarks at a conference sponsored by what the Washington Post described as "the main citadel for Wahabi instruction". It is clear that he invited to be flaunted by them "as the token moderate" and that his claims that his purportedly "brutally critical" remarks were well received is part of a staged deception.

Below is the complete text of the Wahabist conference and their 'mission statement'

Dear Friends,

Rector of Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University Dr. Mohammed bin Saad Al Salem has revealed that the university would clarify its stance towards the deviated thought and would defuse the accusations against Islam.

In a statement he said that the university would contribute with all other sectors of the Kingdom to the protection of the country and securing of its internal front during the international conference on Islamic Stand on Terrorism, Violence and Extremism which is scheduled to be held at the university premises in Riyadh.

He outlined that the conference is aimed at clarifying the sharia stand towards the recent events and at contributing to defending the Kingdom against the biased propaganda and false accusations and lies circulated abroad. In addition it will present to the concerned authorities academic, educational, psychological and social proposals on solution of this problem.

The conference will seek to meet several objectives including detecting of the roots of terrorism, violence and extremism which come as a result of deviated thoughts. It will also highlight the moderation of Islam and its just teachings.
Dr. Salem pointed out that the conference would discuss several topics including the sharia dealing with deviated thought and the role played by nation to face this deviated thought.

The conference will also discuss terrorism and violence and their impacts on economy and investment and other important topics. Concluding his statement, he noted that the organization of the conference in the university stand as an evidence for the high academic position of the university in the field of academic research and organization of big conferences.


For more news about the conference please visit our web site at:

http://www.islamstand.org/english/index.htm

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Dear Friends,

The Secretariat of the conference on Islam Stand on terrorism, due to be organized by Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University from Rabi Awal 1 to 3 is continuing its efforts to finalize all preparations ahead of the start of the conference.
The dean of students affairs at the university and secretary general of the conference Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al-Dawood said that the university has done well in regard to the final preparations for the convention of this conference. He added that the ad hoc committees are exerting strenuous efforts to have the conference come out in an appropriate content and form. "The volume of participations in the conference from inside and outside the Kingdom require a high level of accuracy in the organization," he said
He pointed out that the university officials are exerting significant efforts to guarantee the success of the conference and have it meet its objectives which include the highlighting of Islam stand on terrorism, violence and extremism, the revelation of the true picture of Islam as a religion that denounces all forms and manifestations of terrorism, responding to the false accusations hatched against Islam as well as the attempts trying to stamp terrorism with Islam and Muslims.
He noted that the conference secretariat has formed executive committees to finalize all arrangements and preparations for the conference. They were as follows:

- Reception and Transportation Committee chaired by Dr. Abdullah bin Suliman Al-Dowaish.
- Accommodation and Catering Committee chaired by Dr. Hammad Ali Al-Hammadi.
- Furnishing and Utilities Committee chaired by Eng. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Jerayyan.
- Gifts and Visits Committee chaired by Dr. Faisal bin Romayyan Al-Romayyan.
- Public Relations and Visa Committee chaired by Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Jomiah.
- Security and Medical Services Committee chaired by Dr. Abdulaziz Ali Al-Ghareeb.

For more news about the conference please visit our web site at:

http://www.islamstand.org/english/index.htm

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Dear Friends
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahad bin Abdulaziz has extended generous support to the Islamic Stand on Terrorism Conference organized by Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University from April 20 to22. This was disclosed by the rector of the university Dr. Mohammed bin Saad Al Salem in a press conference here Tuesday.
He announced that Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz would patronize the opening ceremony of the conference next Tuesday

To surf the site of the conference: www.islamstand.org
For correspondence and inquiries: E-Mail: [email protected]

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13266-2004Aug18?language=printer

Excerpt from WPost article:"In 1989, the Saudis also set up a high-powered Islamic learning center, the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, in Fairfax. The institute is an outpost of the Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, the main citadel for Wahhabi instruction."

Bruce Hoffman (Rand Corporation), Yours Truly and Lawrence Wright (New Yorker)
at the conference on Al Qaeda at John Jay College, NY.

From Khan's Globalog : "...But the most interesting difference in the two conferences was the attitude towards terrorism. In NY people seemed to be clear what terrorism was and were merely interested in fighting it. It was also apparent that many people in the audience were interested in implicating Islam. Whereas in Riyadh the focus was more on defining terrorism and in exonerating Islam..."

MIM: Khan slyly remarks that the difference between the Al Qaeda conference in New York and the Wahabist conference in Saudi Arabia was the attitude towards terrorism(!). He also implies that many people in the audience were 'Islamophobic' because they were "interested in implicating Islam". He points out that the focus in Riyadah was "more on defining terrorism and exonerating Islam". The conference program from the Wahabist Imam Saud University makes it clear that it was intended to show to the world media that "the real terrorism is being committed by the enemies of Islam"..."and to make people understand the justice of Islam" and can be interpreted in Wahabist terms to mean that America deserved the 9/11 attacks according to shari'a law.

Which begs the question as to Khan's real motives in criticising a post 9/11 conference on Al Qaeda and terrorism in New York City, for 'implicating Islam',and is indicative of his fifth columnist agenda.

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The announcement and program about Al Qaeda at John Jay College where Khan was a panelist: (see picture above)

http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/terrorism/_events.asp

Al-Qaeda: The New Face of Global Terrorism
May 4-5, 2004
Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street
New York City, NY

"Al-Qaeda"; will be a unique conference addressing all aspects of this extraordinarily complex and feared organization. Panelists will include leading scholars of terrorism and the Middle East, journalists with first-hand knowledge of Al-Qaeda, and intelligence officers and others who work in counter-terrorism. One plenary panel will feature a discussion of the "Myths and Realities"; of Al-Qaeda in an attempt to balance the real threats it poses with the mysteries it presents and the climate of fear it generates. A second plenary panel will discuss concrete ways of countering the terrorism of Al-Qaeda violence in the Middle East and in the United States, especially in New York. There will also be sessions on "Osama bin laden,"; &#x20Recruitment, Funding and Global Reach of Al-Qaeda,"; and "Media: Reporting on Al-Qaeda.";

Speakers include: Richard Falk, Isabel Hilton, Robert Baer, Bruce Hoffman, Richard Kearney, Lawrence Wright, Quintan Wiktorowicz, Mohammed El-Nawawy, Chris Hedges, Loretta Napoleoni, and Steve Rendall.

This groundbreaking conference, the first of its kind, will contribute to our deeper understanding of a group that considers itself at war with the United States and West.

This conference is co-sponsored by: The Center on Terrorism, John Jay College; Continuing Education & Public Programs, Graduate Center; York College, CUNY; and Scientific Investigative Technologies Group (SITG). Organizing Committee: Charles B. Strozier, Chair; Michael Flynn, Co-Chair;
Julie O'Brien, Coordinator; Joseph F. King; David Levine; Cindy Ness; and Jill Berke.

There is a nominal fee of $50 ($20 for students) to defray our costs.

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MIM :More original texts of the official announcements about the Riyadh Conference "The Islamic Stand on Terrorism"at the Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University

Dear Friends,

The information committee of the Islamic Stand on Terrorism to be organized by Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University from April 20 to 22 has adopted a new mechanism on the media coverage of the conference activities.
This mechanism includes an intensive use of the Internet service under the supervision of a specialized team assigned to work round the clock to convey the conference message to all world countries through all available Internet websites.
The chairman of the Information Committee Dr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al Hamoud outlined that the coverage would be in five main languages; Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Persian
According to him the committee would deal with all available websites including those of Radio and TV channels as well as the official websites of private companies and public institutions. It would also deal with individuals through mail lists which cover more than 16 million persons in the Kingdom, Arab countries Europe and America.
He noted that the media coverage include publication of advertisements (banners) and messages in five languages.
It is worth noting that this coverage goes along with the conference website www.islamstand.org which was designed in three languages; Arabic, English and French, while plans are underway to add Spanish and Persian languages.


Regards,
Electronic Publisher

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MIM:This is an article written which comments on the conference which clearly shows the Wahabist agenda of the conference.

"Thus some people in the West have made collective efforts to target Islam in the pretext of fighting terrorism,though they have other intentions which they cannot reveal clearly"

By: Mohammed Ali Al Herfy, Saudi Academician and Writer

The term "terrorism" has become an outstanding issue in the history of the world since the September 11, 2001 events in the US. The main problem in this regard is that the US policymakers have deviated this term to suit their ideologies and try to force the other people to accept this concept. The US president has interpreted this concept by his famous statement "Who is not with us is with terrorism". By saying so President Bush has given the US the right to violate human conventions and international laws in the pretext of fighting terrorism. Some other leaders have adopted the same policy to describe their critics as terrorists.
Many difficulties are faced when someone tries to give a definition to the term "terrorism" due to the nature of terrorist acts and the different viewpoints of world countries towards these acts. For some acts are considered by some countries while they are legitimate as per the Divine teachings and terrestrial laws. For this reason it is said that "definition of terrorism is more difficult than fighting it".
A group of political, cultural and religious leaders described Islam as a religion of terrorism and its followers as terrorists. Some of them went even further to accuse the Lord of Islam as ordering His followers to be criminal killers. These accusations against Islam and Muslims are repeated in Europe and Israel. Some politicians and intellectuals in these countries use these accusation to call for fighting against Islam which they describe as dangerous to human civilization. Thus some people in the West have made collective efforts to target Islam in the pretext of fighting terrorism, though they have other intentions which they can not reveal clearly.
As our country is part of this world and as it is the cradle of Islam and supports charitable works, it has received unlimited accusations.
It is said that our country supports terrorism and that its education curricula produce terrorists. It is also said that its charitable societies extend support to some terrorists in some parts of the world. There are several other similar accusation which are aimed at disencouraging the Kingdom from fulfilling its legitimate duties. This situation has prompted the Kingdom to move quickly to put things in the right track, not only to defend itself, but also to defend Islam against such false accusations. This move has come from Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University by calling for convening of an international conference to be attended by a large number of academicians, thinkers and researchers from Arab, Islamic and Western countries.
The university is well prepared to make the necessary success due to the existence of distinguished cadres and competent management. For this university is one of the biggest Islamic universities in the world, and above all, it is accused that its curricula help in graduating terrorists.
The three-day conference is discussing a number of important issues to come out with a clear opinion towards the problem of terrorism. This is to make the entire world knows the reality of terrorism and how Islam fights all forms of terrorism and extremism.
Islam is a religion of moderation. It calls on its followers to deal well with other people including their enemies.
We hope that this conference will succeed in conveying to the entire world the true vision about Islam and to show to them that the real terrorism is that committed by the enemies of Islam. In fact the enemies of Islam are committing mass killings against Muslims. This is of course a form of terrorism. The recent murder of Sheikh Yassin and Dr. Abdulaziz Al Rantissi is a clear evident in this connection.
We hope that Imam University will put things in the right track and will make all people understand the justice of Islam.

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http://www.islam-democracy.org/khan_bio.asp

A. Muqtedar Khan (muqtedar.khan@islam-democracy.org) is winding up his Ph.D in International Relations and Political Theory from Georgetown University. His major includes International Relations Thought, International Law and Political Economy and American Foreign Policy. His minors include Political Philosophy and Islamic Political Theory. Muqtedar Khan has a bachelors degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering, an MBA in Strategic Management, and an MA in International Studies. His dissertation is a treatise on the Philosophy of action and its relation to identity and rationality.

Muqtedar Khan is presently the Managing Editor of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, the General Secretary of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists, a Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. He is also a founder of the Contemporary Islamic Philosophy conferences.

Muqtedar Khan is a prolific writer and has published research articles in journals such as the Security Dialogue, Middle East Policy, Middle East Affairs, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Intellectual Discourse, The Muslim World, The Diplomat, Islamica, Islamic Horizons, and The Message. He has contributed many book chapters and dozens of articles in journals published in the U.S., U.k., Canada, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and
India. He has spoken widely on Islam and on International Affairs.

Muqtedar Khan is also the founder and editor of Ijtihad, "an e-zine on Islam and global affairs that seeks to promote freedom of thought (hurriyah al-ra'y) and independent thinking (ijtihad) among Muslims everywhere."

Since September 1999, Khan has been a visiting lecturer in political science at Washington College in Maryland.

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MIM: Muqtedar Khan posed with friend and colleague Kamran Bokhari in front of a still intact Capitol building. Bokhari is the North American spokesman for Al Muhajiroun which posted this picture on their now defunct website:

MIM: This is another view of a potential strike on the Washington, D.C. as seen by Stratfor geo political analyst Kamran Bokhari's Al Muhajiroun group on their website:

Picture from the AM website :

The Capitol building in flames

http://www.talonnews.com/news/2004/march/0318_radical_islamic.shtml

"USA is not only the enemy because they disbelieve in Allah; more than that they are actively fighting against Islam and Muslims.

Without any doubt, terrorism against them is obligatory"

http://www.muhajiroun.com/Deen/jihaad1/terrorism.htm

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