The US Justice Department announced Mark Deli Siljander, a former Republican Representative, has been indicted in connection to a terrorist financing conspiracy that sent money to al- Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mark Deli Siljander was elected from Michigan to the US House of Representatives from 1981-87. He was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations by then-president Ronald Reagan.

The charges are money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

According to the indictment unsealed in a federal court in Kansas City, Missouri, Siljander, 57, was hired by a charity shut down by the US government in 2004 after for connections to terrorism.

The charity, formerly known as the Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA), allegedly paid Siljander 50,000 dollars in stolen US government money to lobby Congress to remove the organization from a list of groups with suspected terrorist links. The money was later laundered into bank accounts, prosecutors said.

The Justice Department charges that IARA funneled money to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan mujahedin leader designated as a terrorist, who has supported attacks by the Taliban militia and al- Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden.

Siljander allegedly lied to investigators about his lobbying effort, saying that the money was a donation to help him write a book about bridging the gap between Islam and Christianity.

IARA and five of its officers, employees and associates were charged in a 33-count March 2007 indictment with illegally transferring money to Iraq in violation of US sanctions prior to the 2003 toppling of the Baghdad regime, and for stealing US government money.

"Mark Siljander vehemently denies the allegations in the indictment," Siljander’s attorney in Kansas City, James R. Hobbs said in a statement. He described Siljander as "internationally recognized for his good faith attempts to bridge the gap between Christian and Muslim communities worldwide" and plugged the ex-congressman's upcoming book on that topic.