Head of group linked to Hamas to address Obama

Ingrid Mattson, president of Islamic Society of North America, to speak at new US president's inaugural prayer service. Federal prosecutors claim her organization has ties with terror group's fund raising foundation

Prof. Ingrid Mattson, who heads a Muslim organization which federal prosecutors in the United States say has ties to a Hamas fund, has been invited to take part in a prayer service which will be held in Washington as part of US President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, and at his presence.

Mattson, a Catholic Canadian who converted to Islam after volunteering in Afghanistan, serves as president of the Islamic Society of North America and is one of six religious leaders set to speak at the national prayer service.

Mattson has already been invited in the past to the State Department as a guest of honor, and has even met with senior Pentagon and Bush administration officials.

However, the name of the organization she heads has been mentioned as having ties with Hamas' Holy Land Foundation in documents presented by federal prosecutors against the foundation in July. More