Mazen Asbahi, the Obama campaign’s newly appointed National Coordinator for Muslim American Affairs, is part of two additional organizations with ties to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. A post from yesterday identified Mr., Asbahi, a Chicago lawyer, as a Trustee of the Allied Assets Advisers, an investment advisory firm which is part of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) which is in turn affiliated with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), both organization being part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. Mr Asbahi is also on the board of directors of the Institute For Social Policy And Understanding (ISPU), a MIchigan think tank with a broad policy agenda. Scholars and Advisers of ISPU include the following individuals with ties to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood:
- Akbar Ahmed (long association with the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS)
- Ihsan Bagby (ISNA, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Fiqh Council of North America)
- Muneer Fareed (ISNA Secretary-General)
- Sherman Jackson (NAIT, ISNA)
- Sulayman Nyang (Howard University, frequent speaker at ISNA and CAIR events)
Other individuals of interested affiliated with ISPU include John Esposito , a Georgetown University academic and longtime Brotherhood supporter and Graham Fuller, former Vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA and member of the Advisory Board of the Conflicts Forum headed by former MI6 agent Alistair Crooke, described in a media report as secretly one of Britain’s leading intermediaries with militant groups.
Public records also identify Mr. Asbahi as the registered agent and a Manager of an Illinois Limited Liability company known as SA Consulting, LLC (reg #01876864), established in June 2006 and registered to a Chicago address which is likely a current or former apartment home of Mr. Asbahi. The three managers of SA Consulting are listed as:
- Mazen Asbahi
- Farid Senzai (research director for the Institute For Social Policy And Understanding, described above)
- Omer Totonji (likely the son of Iraqi-born U.S. Muslim Brotherhood founder Ahmed Totonji)
all providing the same residential address in Chicago.
Interestingly, in October 2003, Omer Tontonji was described in a business publication as “an Iraqi who is general manager of Saudi Arabia-based Al Saady Holdings Company, who is active in bringing together Iraqi and foreign business interests…” Totonji’s father, whose history was detailed in an earlier post, was one of the most important figures in the early history of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and was active in Saudi Arabia for a number of years.
The purpose of SA Consulting is not known and the corporation is listed as “not-in-good-standing” at the current time.