President Obama heads met with a top Islamic scholar with ties to the terrorist group Hamas inside the White House earlier this month.
Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, the vice president of a group that supports Hamas — the same group that has a president that heralded the killing of U.S. troops in Iraq — said on his website that he met with two White House officials on June 13: Gayle Smith, the senior director of the National Security Council and Rashad Hussain, the special envoy for Mr. Obama for the Organization of the Islamic Conference, The Daily Caller reported.
He also indicated he met with other officials in the White House, without citing names.
The Daily Caller tried to discern whether National Security Adviser Tom Donilon was at the meeting, because the website message initially said that the “national security adviser” attended, too. The post was subsequently changed to reflect that the deputy national security adviser actually attended.
Mr. Bin Bayyah said the meeting was initiated by the White House. A senior White House official said to The Daily Caller that the meeting did indeed take place in order to “counter the al Qaeda narrative.”
Mr. Bin Bayyah’s posting said among the topics that were discussed: How to “lift the injustices from vulnerable peoples such as the Syrian people, the Palestinians and the Muslims in Myanmar,” and U.S. aid to Syria.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.