Sen. Barack Obama’s Arab and Muslim American liaison resigned after revelations of a brief association with a radical imam.

Mazen Asbahi quit last week because he did not want to be a “distraction” to Obama’s presidential campaign, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Asbahi, a prominent Chicago lawyer, for a few weeks in 2000 had served on the board of the Allied Assets Advisors Fund, which is affiliated with the North American Islamic Trust. Also serving on the board at that time was Jamal Said, an imam at a Chicago area mosque known for his radical views.

Said raised funds for the defense of people charged with fundraising for Hamas. Said was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in that case, which ended in a mistrial last year.

“I served on that board for only a few weeks before resigning as soon as I became aware of public allegations against another member of the board,” Asbahi said in his resignation letter. — jta