Nationality American Education University of Redlands Name Khaled Saffuri | Religion Islam Employer Meridian Strategies Political party Republican Party | |
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Occupation Executive Director The Islamic Free Market Institute
Principal at Meridian Strategies Residence Washington, D.C., United States Organizations founded Islamic Free Market Institute | ||
Khaled Saffuri (Arabic: خالد صفوري) (born in Lebanon) is an Arab-American political activist of Palestinian origin, and the co-founder of the Islamic Free Market Institute.
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Background
Brought up as a stateless exile in Kuwait, Saffuri came to the US a student in 1982, and started college in San Diego, eventually receiving a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a master's degree in Management Science from the University of Redlands, California.
Career
Saffuri moved to Washington, DC in 1987 to work as Development Director with the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a civil rights group founded by former US Senator James Abourezk In 1990, he joined the National Association of Arab-Americans (NAAA) and served as an Assistant Executive Director until September 1993.
Saffuri was executive director of American Task Force for Bosnia (ATFB), an organization he established in December 1992 to consolidate efforts among mainstream Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and other ethnic organizations in the United States to end the conflict in Bosnia. Saffuri was also the director for government affairs for the American Muslim Council (AMC) from September 1995 until December 1997.
The AMC was headed by Abdulrahman Alamoudi who is now serving a 23-year prison sentence for financing terrorism.
Islamic Free Market Institute
In 1997 Saffuri, along with Grover Norquist, one of the most politically connected Republican lobbyists, founded the Islamic Free Market Institute (often called simply the Islamic Institute) to build Republican support among Muslim Americans. The Institute operates out of the headquarters of Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. The start-up money largely comes from Middle Eastern sources. Saffuri’s former boss at the AMC American Muslim Council, Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi, gives at least $35,000. The Safa Trust donates at least $35,000, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) contributes $11,000. Both organizations are part of the SAAR group and are among the organizations that were subject to a March, 2002 raid under the auspices of Operation Green Quest.