...
A Muslim scholar chosen to speak at Obama's inaugural prayer service on Wednesday is the leader of a group that federal prosecutors say has ties to terrorists.
Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, is one of many speakers scheduled at the National Cathedral service. She has been the guest of honor at State Department dinners and has met with Pentagon officials during the Bush administration. Mattson, a professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn., also spoke at a prayer service at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
But in 2007 and as recently as last July, federal prosecutors in Dallas filed documents linking the Plainfield, Ind.-based group to Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. Neither Mattson nor her organization has been charged.