Islamic Center of Portland

The Islamic Center of Portland, also known as Masjed As-Saber, says its objective “is to serve the Muslim community and to enlighten the seeker under Islam.”[1]

Its imam, Mohamed Sheikh Abdirahman Kariye, is originally from Somalia and came to the U.S. in 1982. He became a citizen in 1998 and took the position of imam at ICP the following year.[2]

He was one of the founders of the Global Relief Foundation in 1992; a charity that was shut down by the U.S. government for financing Al-Qaeda.[3]

In October 2001, ICP attendee and former convict Ali Khaled Steitiye was arrested after authorities found him in possession of a machine gun and discovered evidence linking him to Hamas. He also possessed a handgun, assault rifle, a machete and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. The date of September 11 was also circled on his calendar.[4]

Steitiye’s arrest led to the discovery that six ICP attendees tried to join the Taliban in Afghanistan via China in October 2001. A seventh was charged with helping to pay for their travel. They were arrested in 2002.[5]

The FBI stated in a 2003 affidavit that it believes Kariye sponsored their trip by giving each aspiring terrorist $2,000.One of the Portland Seven, Jeffrey Battle, mentioned the funding and said that Kariye encouraged Muslims to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He also said that Kariye “had fought in the jihad,” referring to his time fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.

Kariye has not been charged because an FBI informant failed to record the conversation implicating him.[6]

In 2003, Kariye pled guilty to manipulating a social security card and lying about his income in order to get government benefits. He was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay back $6,000.[7]

The FBI has placed Kariye and four ICP attendees on the No-Fly List since 2010.[8]