WASHINGTON – Pentagon investigators will question a Muslim chaplain who arranged a trip to Mecca for Islamic U.S. servicemen that was paid for by a Saudi charity linked to al Qaeda, a top Defense Department official said yesterday.
In March 2001, Capt. Rasheed Muhammad led a “Haj tour” for about 60 Muslim service people that was paid for by the Muslim World League, which is dedicated to the spread of an extreme form of Islam embraced by Osama bin Laden.
Charles Abell, a Defense Department deputy undersecretary, also told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism the Pentagon will look for new groups to sponsor and train Muslim chaplains because the organizations that have been involved in the process until now are under investigation for terrorist links.