By Walid Shoebat and Ben Barrack
**SHOEBAT EXCLUSIVE**

A relationship between the former chairman of a mosque in the U.S. notorious for breeding terrorists may help to further illustrate the connection between the Muslim Brotherhood, the Syrian opposition, Turkey, and unfortunately, the U.S. Government. At Shoebat.com, we have demonstrated that Bassam Estwani, who chaired the Dar al-Hijrah mosque for years, has curried favor with several very powerful politicians to include President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and many others. Estwani is also a Syrian and clearly supports the Muslim Brotherhood.

Estwani flashing the Rabia sign, showing solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood.

This leads us to a man named Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib Alhassani, whom Estwani appears quite comfortable with despite al-Khatib’s alliance with Osama bin Laden during Operation Desert Storm. Al-Khatib shared bin Laden’s brand of fundamentalism and opposed any U.S. presence in Arab lands for the same reasons. As 2012 began to wind down, the Obama administration aggressively pushed al-Khatib as its handpicked choice to Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Inexplicably, the Obama administration did this just two months after the attack on its Mission in Benghazi by like-minded jihadists. In fact, Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ counterpart Robert S. Ford, the U.S. Ambassador to Syria, spearheaded the effort. Despite the reality that Stevens’ killers were inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, Ford aggressively pressed for a Muslim Brotherhood leader in al-Khatib. This is precisely what al-Khatib was and is, despite attempts by western governments and media entities like the BBC and AFP to give him a facelift. The common denominator between France, the UK, the U.S. and Turkey – which has a tremendous stake in seeing the Muslim Brotherhood succeed – is that they are all NATO member countries. In seeking a rise in Brotherhood influence, the only member country whose interests are truly being served is Turkey, as Shoebat.com reported.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford.

For some context, al-Khatib Alhassani shares many of the traits of a spiritual leader for the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria like Yusuf al-Qaradawi does in Egypt. He also shares similar experiences in that he has been arrested multiple times for various forms of rabble rousing. Turkey may have found al-Khatib particularly appealing because he is a Sufi Muslim. A great lie that has been bought by the west is that Sufis can bridge the gap between Sunni and Shiite. This is more deceit (al-Khatib’s time in jail notwithstanding). Al-Khatib is Muslim Brotherhood. When he speaks, it’s about multiculturalism, interfaith outreach, bridge-building and other forms of Muruna espoused by al-Qaradawi to one audience and sharia law advocacy to other audiences.

In reality, the Sufis seek to use the Muslim Brotherhood as a vehicle to reestablish the Ottoman Empire. This is clearly what al-Khatib and Estwani ascribe to as well. Here is a photo of Estwani with al-Khatib in Cairo during the Muslim Brotherhood regime, led by Mohammed Mursi:

Ahmed Muaz Al-Khatib Alhassani (L) with Estwani (R) in Cairo.

To illustrate just how ideologically incestuous these relationships are, a rather subservient-looking Estwani can be seen in his own Dar al-Hijrah mosque with al-Qaradawi sometime prior to 1999, as reported by Shoebat.com:

Qaradawi (L) and Estwani (seated on floor) at Dar al-Hijrah (click on photo for larger image).

Like al-Qaradawi, al-Khatib is vehemently anti-Semitic. He once referred to all followers of the Jewish faith are “enemies of Allah” and that Shiites are “renegades”, which doesn’t square with that bridge-building image western diplomats attempted to give him.

Al-Khatib is quite active on his Arabic facebook page as well. He once celebrated the deaths of more than 10,000 women as martyrs while proudly proclaiming that just as many had been arrested. This is the Islamic fundamentalist’s version of the ‘war on women’. These female jihadists do wreak havoc but the imagery of more secular forces arresting them and or killing them in self-defense makes for great rallying cries. In the post-Mursi Egypt, this has been a huge problem. In Particular, as Shoebat.com reported, Mursi’s wife has been a key figure in this effort. No doubt, in an effort to further enflame tensions, al-Khatib condemned the Syrian government for removing the hijab in 1981.

The facebook page includes a link to an Arabic publication that chronicles the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, its arrival into Syria, and the morphing of its ‘modernity’ techniques and how they are utilized to push fundamentalist agendas through stealth jihad championed by the likes of al-Qaradawi and Estwani.

Turkey’s Prime Minister – who shares the goals of al-Khatib – has been hard at work, rubbing raw the sores of discontent in his country over the efforts of Abdel Fatah el-Sisi to deal with Muslim Brotherhood leaders and terrorists. Erdogan, who himself cried on national television after Mursi was removed from power, has been attempting to exploit el-Sisi’s efforts to Turkey’s advantage, as Shoebat.com has reported. In this video, for example, a propaganda campaign is being employed to portray the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists Egypt is executing as innocent Muslims who are being executed for their faith:

Though al-Khatib stepped down in March of last year, efforts to elevate him and others like him in places like Syria are occurring not on diplomatic fronts – as evidenced by Ford’s efforts – and through covert action on the part of the U.S. Intelligence apparatus (read Seymour Hersh’s The Red Line and the Rat Line) but in the U.S. homeland. Tax exempt Syrian-American fundraising organizations like the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) and Mercy Without Borders (MWB) are inexplicably allowed to raise funds in America, as Shoebat.com has reported. What’s more is that Estwani serves on the Board of both organizations and his close anti-Semitic friend Rateb al-Nabulsi, who has promoted jihad and suicide bombings was granted his visa and toured the U.S. to raise funds for the jihad effort, as Shoebat.com reported.

Estwani (L) and al-Nabulsi (R) in Istanbul in 2012.

Days prior to the Benghazi attacks and about two months prior to al-Khatib being pushed for the top Syrian jihadist post, Estwani visited Istanbul for a “Muslim and Christian Perspectives” conference that took place on September 7-8, 2012. Coincidentally, Ambassador Christopher Stevens flew from Tripoli to Benghazi on September 8th and met with Turkish Consul General Ali Sait Akin shortly before his murder three days later. While there, Estwani shared a leisurely stroll with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and was also joined by his anti-Semitic friend al-Nabulsi:

Estwani at Interfaith Conference in Istanbul in September, 2012.

Here is Estwani during the same conference walking with Davutoglu:

Estwani (R) walking arm in arm with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu in Istanbul.

Here is anti-Semite al-Nabulsi – who views all Jews as “combatants” – with Estwani at the interfaith conference:

Estwani (R) with al-Nabulsi (L) in Istanbul, Turkey at the Interfaith Conference.

As to al-Khatib’s relationship with Turkey, while he was in Cairo in March of 2013 with Estwani and Mouaz Moustafa, the Executive Director of the SETF, he also met with Davutoglu. This was around the same time that al-Khatib resigned from what many saw as the result of an agreement negotiated by the Turkish government to have al-Khatib lead Syria’s jihadists.

According to one Turkish news report, Davutoglu denied that any such arrangement was made the previous November:

“The allegations made by the spokesperson of the main opposition do not reflect the truth. The fact that a meeting held in Doha aimed to unite the opposition under a single roof was indicated in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Nov. 12, 2012. The [Doha] meeting did not have any secret dimension,” the ministry’s statement read.

As Shoebat.com has reported, Estwani has seemed just as cozy visiting with Davutoglu in Instanbul as he did with al-Khatib in Cairo:

Al-Khatib (R) in Cairo with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Here he is with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib Alhassani (R) and Turkish PM Erdogan (L).

The beleaguered SETF – which became infamous courtesy of its Political Director Elizabeth O’Bagy’s blatant conflict of interest, as reported by Shoebat.com – supported al-Khatib to lead Syria after Bashar al-Assad was removed from power. O’Bagy touted him publicly for such a post. This serves as another in a long line of examples, that demonstrate the U.S. Government is siding with the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda terrorists all over the Middle East.

Though Al-Khatib resigned from his post in frustration about the same time he was in Cairo last year, the larger issue is the Obama administration’s willingness and desire to align with America’s enemies. In fact, instead of identifying those enemies after the murder of four Americans in Bengazi, the Obama administration fought for those enemies diplomatically very soon thereafter. Al-Khatib and Estwani are seen together in this photo with SETF Executive Director Mouaz Moustafa on the far left:

SETF Executive Director Mouaz Moustafa (far left), al-Khatib (second from left) and Estwani (far right) in Cairo.