A former Republican Congressman from Michigan was indicted today on federal charges for allegedly participating in a terrorist fundraising ring that funneled $130,000 to "an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter." According to the AP, Mark Deli Siljander "was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists." He was reportedly paid $50,000 in stolen money.

A Columbia, Mo., Islamic charity was a centerpiece of the indictment handed down today by a Kansas City grand jury. According to the Kansas City Star, the grand jury also charged the "Islamic American Relief Agency and several of its officers with sending money to Iraq during Saddam Hussein's reign in violation of U.S. sanctions." Siljander, who now runs a public relations firm in D.C. and lives in Northern Virginia, "was hired to lobby Congress to remove the charity from a U.S. Senate Finance Committee list of non-profit organizations suspected of being involved in supporting international terrorism."

Siljander, born in Chicago, began his congressional career in Michigan by winning a 1981 special election to fill the seat of David Stockman. He was reelected to two more terms before losing a reelection bid. In 1987 he began a one-year stint as delegate to the United Nations. In 1992 he ran another unsuccessful campaign for Congress, this time in Virginia's newly-made 11th District.

-- Kyle Trygstad