Olajuwon Defends Ties

Hakeem Olajuwon said Tuesday that he was funding legitimate humanitarian projects when he gave tens of thousands of dollars to charities that the U.S. government later accused of having links to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

But Olajuwon would not say whether he supports the militant version of Islam espoused by several of the groups he supported through his Houston mosque. The former Houston Rocket and NBA most valuable player held a conference call with reporters Tuesday to respond to a report by Associated Press last week revealing that his mosque gave more than $80,000 to charities the U.S. government later shut down because of alleged terrorism ties. He said the news coverage unfairly suggested he supports terrorism.

Olajuwon said he was comfortable making the donations, because the groups had not yet been shut down by U.S. authorities.

“We are always conscious, to make sure that ... the money goes to the work,” Olajuwon said. “What we don’t have control over, now, is to say, ‘OK, are you suspected of linking to terrorists?’ How would we know that?”

*

Sacramento King guard Cuttino Mobley was fined $10,000 by the NBA for verbal abuse of the officials and failure to promptly leave the court after Friday’s game, in which the referees missed an apparent goaltending call on his last-minute shot in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. ... Alonzo Mourning was examined by Miami Heat doctors, and team President Pat Riley expects his former star center to join the team next week. Mourning cleared waivers Tuesday and became a free agent after a contract buyout last week by Toronto.