Obama administration gave $200,000 to Al Qaeda group and continued with payment 'even AFTER learning it was a designated terror organization'

The Obama administration approved a $200,000 grant to a group affiliated with Al Qaeda, a conservative think tank announced this week.

Although Obama's presidency targeted Al Qaeda and brought the demise of its leader Osama bin Laden, the government still provided a grant in 2014 that provided funds to the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), which is based in Sudan and affiliated with the terror group.

Not only did the government provide the grant, it also knew the ISRA was designated as a terror-financing organization a decade earlier in October 2004 for ties to bin Laden. 

The grant was exposed by the Middle East Forum as reported by the National Review. 

The March 2014 grant was a part of a $723,405 sum awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to evangelical charity World Vision - with $200,000 of the funds directed to the Islamic Relief Agency in Sudan's capital Khartoum. 

The money was awarded to the charity 'to help provide humanitarian aid, including emergency food, water, sanitation, and hygiene services, to displaced people affected by the ongoing conflict in Sudan'.

Afterwards the USAID told World Vision to 'suspend all activities with ISRA' in November 2014 and the two organizations waited for the Office of Foreign Assets Control (USFAC) to confirm whether ISRA was on the terror list or not.

As World Vision waited for a reply, the senior director announced that the charity intended to continue working with the ISRA if the government didn't reply within a week. 

Eventually the Office of Foreign Assets Control replied and said ISRA was a sanctioned entity in February 2015.

But soon afterwords World Vision wrote to the Obama administration asking to pay ISRA 'monies owed for work performed'.