WASHINGTON — A top New Jersey Democrat seeking to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman once volunteered in Bosnia with a Chicago-based nonprofit whose offices were raided by the government in 2002 after it was determined to be a front for al-Qaeda.
Adam Hamawy, an Egyptian-born former combat surgeon who served in the Iraq War, had touted his time interning in 1994 for the since-defunct “Benevolence International Foundation” years later in a local New Jersey paper.
“I worked in Sarajevo for 10 days and then the rest in Zenica, a large regional center in central Bosnia,” Hamawy told the Newark Star-Ledger in a 1996 interview.
“We went out to hospitals around the area and in the mountains to check what supplies they needed and we tried to deliver them.”
The 9/11 Commission Report later described the foundation’s operation in Bosnia as part of an “impressive array of offices [that] covertly provided financial and other support for terrorist activities” that Osama bin Laden leaned on in the 1990s.
Government agents uncovered weapons, letters from al-Qaeda leaders, a photo of bin Laden, documents about the terror group’s operations, and more during the raid on the Bosnian offices.
Authorities alleged that the foundation was used by the terror group as a front “to establish a base for operations in Europe against al Qaeda’s true enemy, the United States.”
Jewish Insider first uncovered Hamawy’s past work with the foundation. Hamawy was never charged or faced any accusations of involvement with Islamic terrorism.
Hamawy now appears to be a frontrunner in the crowded Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District ahead of next month’s election.
“It must be the final days of the election, because the attacks are getting more desperate than ever,” a spokesperson for Hamawy told The Post about the revelations.
“Dr. Adam Hamawy, as a young medical student and member of the US military, volunteered to provide medical assistance to victims of the Bosnian genocide, per the suggestion the Bosnian mission made to him on how to help via a United Nations-approved route,” the spokesperson added.
“The idea that this absurd claim could be seriously entertained about the work of a veteran who served our country for twenty years, was awarded the Global War on Terrorism medal for his service in Iraq, and climbed the rubble at Ground Zero searching for survivors on 9/11 would be laughable if it weren’t so gross and bigoted.”
Throughout the campaign, Hamawy has faced scrutiny over his ties to late al-Qaeda mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as “The Blind Sheikh.”
Abdel-Rahman died in 2017.
The late Islamist drew national attention in the 1990s amid a terror crackdown after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Abdel-Rahman was later convicted in the mid-1990s for pushing for a “war of urban terrorism” against the US, particularly in New York. He was one of several high-profile convictions after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Hamawy’s history with Abdel-Rahman had been known during the campaign. He first met him in 1991 while in medical school, per a court transcript. The two embarked on a 13-hour road trip to Detroit for a conference.
During that conference about the Muslim economy, Abdel-Rahman mused about “conquering the land of the infidels,” per the transcript. Hamawy acknowledged hearing him say that at the conference, but contended that the prosecution was “kind of taking it out of context,” according to the court transcript.
He also worked as a translator for Abdel-Rahman.
During Abdel-Rahman’s terror trial, his defense tapped Hamawy to dispute a government informant’s accusations that “The Blind Sheikh” urged them to murder then-Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak.
Hamawy has been endorsed by lefty Dems, including “Squad” Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Hamawy drew national headlines for his volunteer work in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, during which his team was once briefly stranded after the closing of the Rafah border crossing.
Sen. Tammy Duckwork (D-Ill.) has credited him with saving her life after she was injured in Iraq when her helicopter was downed.