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During Ali Ahmed Karti's visit to Washington. Siljander says in this 2006 article that he didn't know anything about Karti's connections.
Background on the Siljander case: "Sudanese Official Is a No-Show at State Department," by Glenn Kessler for the Washington Post, May 13, 2006 (thanks to Sr. Soph):
Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi E. Frazer planned to meet yesterday at the State Department with a top Sudanese official linked by human rights groups to the violence in Sudan's Darfur region that the Bush administration has labeled as genocide. But the official, deputy foreign minister Ali Ahmed Karti, did not show up for the meeting, a State Department spokesman said.David Sims, a spokesman for the Africa bureau headed by Frazer, said a meeting had been planned but Karti "just decided he didn't want to make it." Frazer, who last week was in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, for intensive talks that led to a tentative peace agreement on Darfur, did not have qualms about meeting with Karti, Sims said.
Human rights groups say that Karti, though he now holds the title of state minister for foreign affairs, was the head of the Popular Defense Forces, a paramilitary group that fought alongside the militia known as the Janjaweed during a campaign of terror that has now resulted in as many as 450,000 deaths and driven more than 2 million from their homes. Some experts have said they believe his name is on the secret list of 51 names referred by the United Nations to the International Criminal Court for possible prosecution for war crimes.
[...]
Besides his alleged role in Darfur, Human Rights Watch documented that Karti was involved in the scorched-earth clearances in the oil regions of southern Sudan, beginning in 1998, as part of the long-running civil war in the south. A report on the campaign said that "PDF coordinating director Ali Ahmad Karti read out the names of the brigades that had been sent to the field, including the 'Protectors of the Oil Brigade,' and promised that more brigades would be created."
Sims said that Karti was granted a visa for a private visit to the United States and was a guest of former congressman Mark D. Siljander (R-Mich.). But Siljander said he knew little about Karti's schedule and had only arranged his attendance at a congressional prayer breakfast this week. He said that Karti planned to stay for two to three weeks and had told him he wanted to meet with State Department officials.
Siljander expressed surprise regarding the allegations about Karti's past. "I don't know anything about that," he said. "As far as I knew, he was in the cabinet."...
Posted by Robert at January 17, 2008 7:00 AM
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."Siljander expressed surprise regarding the allegations about Karti's past. "I don't know anything about that,"
.....Ignorance about Islam is a fatal flaw most politicians seem to have....(or claim to have)...
......Knowledge about Islam is a valuable tool...knowing how to use it is more valuable...
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at January 17, 2008 7:16 AM
At what point does Mr. Siljander's willfull ignorance give way to the fact that he was betraying his country? Or will people continue to allow the "just another corrupt government official" defense? I would hope that our Congress critters would have minimal intelligence and some common sense. Or is the pressure of holding public office just too great for their "heat oppressed mind(s)"?
It is no solice to think that Siljander is the only member of the govenment that is completely unaware of dawa. Or jihad, for that matter. I don't like to add to the work of the members of the public sector, but they should read the Qur'an. They should share their findings with their constituents.
Silence = Death
Posted by: tanstaafl at January 17, 2008 10:10 AM
Traitors should get the old fashioned form of justice. You know....how the US used to handle things before we turned into a feminized society.
Posted by: interestinconundrum at January 17, 2008 11:29 AM
"how the US used to handle things before we turned into a feminized society.
Posted by: interestinconundrum "
....make that a diversified, multicultural, politically correct, feminized society....the kind of society that, at time, makes you want to puke...
Posted by: exsgtbrown at January 17, 2008 11:50 AM
Siljander apparently went from being a pro-lifer (what the press would define as "Christian right") while in Congress to believing he could bridge the divide between Christianity and Islam. The only question is: what life experiences led him to that belief? It couldn't have been the sight of travelers being gunned down in airports or an American in a wheelchair being thrown over the side of a boat.
Posted by: PMK at January 17, 2008 12:02 PM
Apparently Mark Siljander has been on the speaking tour for sometime now. Note these 2 speeches given by him at the University of Pennsylvania under the Veritas forum on Nov.14th and 15th. As he speaks to bridging the Christian/Muslim divide.Former
ApparentlySecretary of State Madeleine Albright honored Ambassador Siljander at the United Nations, for his “…efforts toward a more just, humane and peaceful world.”
This only refernces to the speeches to be given. I'm still looking to see if I can find copies of the complete speeches somewhere in effort to see were he is coming from.
http://www.veritas.org/upenn/schedule
Posted by: Mackie at January 17, 2008 12:12 PM
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