The Al Kifah Refugee Center is a

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

that was active in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Al Kifah Refugee Center
''Tracking the threat'' and was based in the Faruq Mosque in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

.Complete 911 Timeline
''Cooperative Research''

Overview

Al Kifah Refugee Center had clandestine links to forces fighting in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

dating to the late 1980s, when the fighters enjoyed American support in their struggle against the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

occupiers. It is asserted that funds raised in the USA were covertly sent to

Maktab al-Khidamat The ''Maktab al-Khidamat'' () was an Arab charitable organization founded in 1984 by Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and other volunteers during the Soviet–Afghan War, It raised funds and recruited foreign mujahideen for the ...

, an organization Osama bin Laden is said to have later transformed into al Qaeda. Cooperative Research asserts that Ali Mohamed, an instructor at Fort Bragg offered military and demolition training through the center. They assert El-Sayyid Nosair recruited students for this military training conducted through the center. They assert that some of those involved in bombing of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

received training from Ali Mohamed through the center. Among the causes the center raised funds for was Bosnian orphans.Tangled Ties: Law-enforcement officials follow the money trail among suspected terrorists straight to the doors of the Saudi Embassy
, ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'', April 7, 2003 ''

'' reported that Aafia Siddiqui, who disappeared when she fell under suspicion of ties to terrorism, made large donations to the Al Kifah Refugee Center and Benevolence International.Stockman, Farah
Activist turned extremist, US says.
''The Boston Globe.'' August 12, 2008.

References

Charities based in New York (state) Covert organizations Islamic terrorism in the United States {{US-philanthropy-org-stub