Cleveland, OH, June 17, 2010 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) applauded federal law enforcement officials for their investigation leading to the arrests earlier this month of two Toledo residents charged with conspiring to provide material support to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization. 

Hor I. Akl, and his wife, Amera A. Akl, both 37 and dual citizens of the United States and Lebanon, are accused of attempting to arrange a transfer of $500,000 to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Ohio residents are the latest Americans to be charged or convicted in the U.S. on terrorism offenses relating to Hezbollah.

Neal Shapero, ADL Regional Board Chair, and Nina Sundell, ADL Regional Director for the Ohio/Kentucky/Allegheny Region, issued the following statement:

We applaud the work of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in uncovering this alleged plot to smuggle $500,000 to Hezbollah in Lebanon with the understanding that the terrorist group would use these funds "to target Israel."

 

This case highlights the continued importance of the work of law enforcement in tracking financial support to foreign terrorist organizations.

 

 We commend U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service for their proactive stance against domestic support for terrorism.  We very much hope these arrests will also serve as a meaningful deterrent for others who might attempt to aid other terrorist plots and terrorist organizations. 

 The League has closely tracked the growing and increasingly dangerous domestic terror threat posed by Americans motivated by radical interpretations of Islam.  ADL has compiled a chronology of criminal proceedings of American Muslim extremists charged, convicted or sentenced since 2002 on terrorism-related offenses – ranging from providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations to plotting violent attacks in the U.S.