If true, this is delicious.

Bump.

Aren't the Dims in congress gutting John Ashcroft's request to use foreign terrorist info obtained through illegal methods? If not, it SOUNDS like something they would do.

Leni

I hope he has a couple of SAS friends guarding his physical back while he rummages through cyberspace

posted on 09/29/2001 20:21:42 PDT

It's in the Sudan, naturally.

Three things:

1) as a former employee of a bank myself, and knowing something of how security works, I'm suspicious.

2) Does it really seem likely that bin Laden has a recognizable name on any account anywhere in the world? The "al-Qaeda" passbook savings account with "Osama bin Laden" as the owner? I'm suspicious.

3) "Hackers" routinely claim responsibility for acts of God, accidents, equipment failures, and daring feats of hax0ring that are totally unverifiable by anyone else. I'm suspicious.

Take this one with a giant grain of salt unless and until you see third-party confirmation.

Bin Laden in new link to London

Jamie Doward in New York
Sunday September 30, 2001
The Observer

US investigators trying to seize Osama bin Laden's assets are examining the relationship between two London-based banks and the Sudanese AlShamal Islamic Bank, reportedly set up by the terrorist in 1991 to help fund his al-Qaeda network. The probe centres on the British Arab Commercial Bank and the Banque Française de l'Orient.

The news has emerged as one source close to the hunt said investigators have established that several of the world's biggest banks outside the US have yet to freeze accounts known to be used by al-Qaeda. Last week the US government announced it was freezing the assets of 27 individuals and organisations believed to have terrorist links, and warned the world's banks it would act against them if they were involved in money-laundering.

'There are a number of banks in Europe that have accounts which are not frozen and which present a clear and present danger. We are concerned about a bank based in Switzerland, for example,' the source said.

Intelligence sources say the Foreign Terrorist Asset Tracking Centre, set up by the US Treasury in response to the 11 September attacks, wants to establish whether AlShamal was able to open 'correspondent accounts' - accounts which allow foreign banks to 'nest' in UK banks and use their services, includ ing money-transfer facilities - with the British Arab Commercial Bank in the City and Banque Française de l'Orient in Mayfair.

AlShamal lists the two banks as correspondent banks in its promotional material and on its website. AlShamal also lists a third London-based correspondent bank, American Express Bank. Investigators say that account has been dormant for some time and was closed this month.

A London account with Barclays, allegedly used to channel cash for bin Laden's UK operations, was frozen after the atrocities.

AlShamal lists other correspondent banks, including Commerzbank in Frankfurt, Crédit Lyonnais in Geneva and Standard Bank of South Africa in Johannesburg, raising fears that al-Qaeda has a global financial network.

Last week Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate's Investigation Sub-Committee, said: 'The evidence is clear that terrorists are using our own financial institutions against us.'

BTTT

BUMP

bump

Gee,..the (shareholders) link doesn't seem to be active...

Link to Al Shamal Islamic Bank (Sudan)

That was always the good side of hackers - they like freedom as much (or more?)than anyone - and they must know these pseudo-Islamists are anti-freedom. Go get 'em, fellas.

That was always the good side of hackers - they like freedom as much (or more?)than anyone - and they must know these pseudo-Islamists are anti-freedom. Go get 'em, fellas.

It was a quick cut and paste; lost the full links; but still shows the bank locus.

I hope this is true.

I, too, am suspicious, especially of the claims of freezing Taliban accounts. Why would Osama and/or the Taliban allow their accounts to be "freezable"; in other words, why would they allow their money to be either identifiable or in such a position as to allow a bank to freeze their accounts? You could have predicted, as I'm sure Osama did, that going after the funds would have been one of the first acts of retaliation. It doesn't make sense that precautions weren't taken and that his loot was just sitting there for the freezing.

Way to go hackers!!! We got em by the camels testicles.