"(AP) Civil rights attorneys have sued the National Security Agency, claiming it illegally wiretapped conversations between the leaders of an Islamic charity and two of its lawyers. The charity, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, had been accused of aiding Muslim militants, though charges were later dismissed.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland asks that electronic surveillance by the NSA be shut down, arguing the agency illegally wiretapped electronic communications between a local chapter of the charity and Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor, both attorneys in Washington, D.C.
The complaint also seeks $1 million in damages for each of the plaintiffs.
It alleges the NSA did not follow procedures required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, and failed to obtain a court order authorizing electronic surveillance of the charity and its attorneys.
Dave Fidanque, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Oregon, said the complaint is similar to other lawsuits the ACLU has filed recently.
“The law couldn't be clearer on this issue,'” he said. “Not only is the NSA's spying program unauthorized by federal law, but we suspect that conversations of thousands of Americans have been subjected to illegal surveillance by the NSA.”
You know....
Shaddap YOU ACLU! You commie butt-munchers!
Al-Haramain was a proven terrorist front, and as such they HAVE NO RIGHTS.
You have NO right to privacy if you're funding our enemies.
For a little more background on Al-Haramain, here's a little from Jihadwatch from 2004:
"U.S., Saudis Crack Down on Al-Haramain "Charity" Group Another Muslim "charity" in hot water. We'll see just how "transparent" the new organization will be, but I don't tend to put much stock in what Al-Jubeir says. From Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Wednesday said it was dissolving a Riyadh-based charity suspected of funding al Qaeda and will fold its assets into a new group that will channel all Saudi charitable contributions abroad. In addition to winding down the Riyadh-based Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Saudi and U.S. officials said they would seek to block the assets of its local branches in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Netherlands.
The steps are designed to ensure Saudi charitable funds, which U.S. officials have long believed have helped to fund "terrorist" groups, do not get into the hands of militants.
Saudi Arabia has long practiced appeasement with terrorist groups but attacks within Saudi Arabia itself may shake up that unofficial policy.
U.S. and Saudi officials said the new entity -- the Saudi National Commission for Relief and Charity Work Abroad -- would help keep charitable donations out of the wrong hands.
"We do this in order to ensure that the charity of our citizens goes to those who need it and that we know where funds go when they leave Saudi Arabia," Adel Al-Jubeir, an adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, said at a news conference.
Jubeir said the new entity would operate with transparency and provide quarterly reports on how funds are spent. ...
Jubeir said at its peak Al-Haramain raised $40 million to $50 million a year and he roughly estimated the new entity that will funnel all Saudi charity abroad could raise $100 million a year, spiking higher when there are natural disasters.
To block their assets, Washington added the Al-Haramain affiliates in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Netherlands to its list of people or groups believed to have committed, threatened or supported "terrorism."
Even more info here, and here.
If if walks like a Skunk, and smells like a Skunk....its most likely a dirty rotten terrorist - or an ACLU lawyer - same difference.
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