2 GOP Lawmakers Allege Democrats Have Ties to Terrorism

Gilbert and Athey allege that the mosque is linked to terrorism because two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers worshipped there in the months leading up to the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. But the FBI and the presidential Sept. 11 commission both concluded that the mosque played no role in the attacks.

Moran accused Republicans of resorting to "desperate tactics" that prove they are out of touch with increasingly diverse Northern Virginia.

"To label an entire religion is irresponsible," Moran said.

In an interview, Gilbert said he is targeting the Muslim American Society and the mosque, not all Muslims. Gilbert said the leaders of the society and mosque have expressed past support for Hamas or Hezbollah, which the U.S. government considers terrorist organizations.

He noted that some of the founders of the Muslim American Society had links to the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement that started in Egypt in the 1920s and advocates a purer, more restrictive form of Islam in the Middle East.

"This is not a knock on Muslims, Muslim Americans, Muslim Virginians," said Gilbert, who is also an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Warren County. "This is a knock on this particular organization that has radical origins and continues to maintain radical beliefs."

In the photo released Friday, Kaine is standing with Mahdi Bray, a top Muslim American Society official. Gilbert also released a grainy video in which Bray is seen expressing support for Hamas at a rally in Washington seven years ago.

Athey stresses that his criticism is aimed at the organizations' leaderships, not their individual members. "Maybe I'm too much of a Boy Scout, but it troubles me something like this could happen in Virginia," Athey said. "It's not about individual members of a particular group; it's about the leadership who seem to have certain ties."

Gilbert said he is basing his conclusions about the mosque and society on reports by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, an organization that tracks individuals it suspects of having links to terrorism.

Ibrahim Ramey, director of the Muslim American Society's human and civil rights division, said the Investigative Project's work is flawed.

"We have taken positions that we oppose the economic strangulation of Gaza, as do many people in the United States, but we are not involved in any violent, insurgent activity, and our concern is humanitarian," Ramey said.

Ramey noted that the State Department invites Muslim American Society leaders to participate in events.

"We sponsor Boy and Girl Scout troops around the country. We do charity drives," Ramey said. "So the attempt by people to cast us in a negative light is just deplorable."

The Republican-controlled General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution in 2005 praising Mukit Hossain, one of the Muslim American Society's leaders, after the Herndon Times named him its citizen of the year. Hossain was honored because he raised $10,000 to buy coats for day laborers.

Del. Thomas David Rust (R-Fairfax), one of the co-sponsors of the resolution honoring Hossain, said Gilbert and Athey should temper their investigation.

"I know Mukit; he is a friend of mine. I have lots of friends in the Muslim community, and I am very disappointed this is going on," Rust said.

Hossain, who also runs the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, which has primarily donated to Republicans in recent years, said Athey and Gilbert's campaign has persuaded him to work especially hard this year to unseat Republicans in the General Assembly. He noted that there are 66,000 Muslims registered to vote in Virginia, about 85 percent of whom live in Northern Virginia.

"I am hoping this sense of urgency and sense of civic duty will prompt them in very, very large numbers to get out and vote to convince the likes of Gilbert to come out of their cocoon of hate," Hossain said.