Posted on 01/10/2004 12:39:49 AM PST by miltonim
In an attempt to hide its traces, Islamic Jihad in Damascus Syria transfers thousands of dollars to the territories to fund terrorism. It deposits money in bank accounts opened by the wives of senior Islamic Jihad members.
The details were revealed Sunday in Salem Military Court, where Sheikh Bassam Sa'adi, the senior Islamic Jihad commander in Jenin, was indicted for transferring funds to operate terrorist activities and belonging to an illegal organization. Sa'adi was arrested in October 2003. He was found in his pajamas, hiding underneath a parked car.
Security officials said Sa'adi is responsible for setting up the terrorist infrastructure in Jenin responsible for several suicide bombings in Israel, including those at a mall in Afula last May that killed three, the car bombing at the Karkur junction in October 2002, and another at the Megiddo junction in June 2002 in which 31 people were killed.
Presenting himself as a political leader, Sa'adi advocated a cease-fire this past summer, but openly rejected it after the IDF killed a top Islamic Jihad commander in Hebron.
Terrorists arrested during Operation Defensive Shield revealed the existence of an institutionalized transfer system, with large sums transferred by Iran via the organizations operating under its patronage, which use the Syrian and the Palestinian banking systems (the Arab Bank stands out as the main money channel).
Transfers were made to Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and indirectly to the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.
The questioning of Ali al-Sa'adi and Thabet Mardawi, senior Islamic Jihad commanders in the Jenin arrested during Operation Defensive Shield, revealed that they were constantly in touch with Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus. They admitted discussing plans regarding suicide attacks with the office, and would request money to fund them and receive instructions regarding arms production.
They also admitted they had received large sums from headquarters in Damascus and opened several accounts in the Arab Bank, some in their name and some in the name of an older woman.
Examples of large sums transferred by Dr. Ramadan Shalah, the movement's Damascus-based secretary-general, to the Jenin cell were found in documents confiscated during Operation Defensive Shield. One related to $127,000 transferred to support the families of dead suicide bombers and another to $31,000 transferred in November 2001, to be given to Ali al-Sa'adi. But he did not receive it because he reportedly quarreled with Sheikh Bassam Sa'adi, who had control of the money.
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