SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 23: Authorities in the United States on Thursday raided one of the biggest Muslim charities, the Michigan-based Life for Relief and Development.

Agents from the FBI also raided the home of the charity’s chief executive and the office of a former officialy.

Official sources said that agents were investigating whether the charity might have illegally distributed money and medical supplies inside Iraq.

The organisation’s head of legal services, Ihsan Alkhatib, said the agents were investigating whether the charity conducted business in Iraq before the 2003 invasion in violation of legal sanctions against the country.

According to official source the charity has distributed more than $50 million to more than 13 million people since its founding in 1992 after the first Gulf war. Last month, the group distributed medicines worth $2.2 million in Lebanon.

The charity operates in a number of countries, including Pakistan, Iraq, Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Afghanistan and parts of Africa.

The Life for Relief and Development has an ‘affiliated’ status with the United Nations and has been permitted by the US State Department and the Defence Department to operate in Iraq and Afghanistan.