Mohamed Atta with his father. [Source: Getty images] Mohamed Atta with his father. [Source: Getty images]After July 1991:
Bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, and Muslim Brotherhood Benefit from Collapse of BCCI, and Form New Financial Network to Replace it -
In July 1991, the criminal BCCI bank is shut down (see July 5, 1991), and Osama bin Laden apparently loses some of his fortune held in BCCI accounts as a result (see July 1991). But while bin Laden loses money, he and his future second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri GAIN INFLUENCE. Other Islamist militants have been heavily relying on BCCI for their finances, and in the wake of BCCI’s collapse they are forced to bank elsewhere.
Author ROLAND JACQUARD will later claim that “following [the bank’s closure], funds [are] TRANSFERRED from BCCI to banks in DUBAI, JORDAN, and SUDAN CONTROLLED BY THE MUSLI BROTHERHOOD. Some of the money [is] handed back to organizations such as the FIS [a political party in ALGERIA]. Another portion [is] transferred by Ayman al-Zawahiri to SWITZERLAND, the NETHERLANDS, LONDON, ANTWERP, and MALAYSIA.” [Jacquard, 2002, pp. 129]
Author ADAM ROBINSON will come to similar conclusions, noting that when BCCI collapses bin Laden has just moved to SUDAN, which is ruled by HASSAN al-TURABI, who has similar Islamist views to bin Laden. Robinson writes, “Without a system by which money could be transferred around the world invisibly, it would be relatively simple for terrorist funds to be traced. Dealing with this crisis fell to al-Turabi.
In desperation he [al-Turabi] turned to Osama.… The future of the struggle could come to rest on Osama’s shoulders.” Over the next several months, bin Laden and a small team of financial experts work on a plan to replace the functions of BCCI. Bin Laden already knows many of the main Islamist backers from his experience in the AFGHAN war. “During the summer of 2001 he discreetly made contact with many of the wealthiest of these individuals, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH AN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK of COMPANIES.… Within months, Osama unveiled before an astonished al-Turabi what he called ‘the Brotherhood Group.’” This is apparently a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Robinson says this group is made up of 134 Arab businessmen with a COLLECTIVE WEALTH OF MANY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. The network will effectively replace BCCI for Islamist militants. [Robinson, 2001, pp. 138-139]
A French report shortly after 9/11 will confirm that bin Laden’s network largely replaces BCCI (see October 10, 2001). Right around this time, bin LADEN IS SEEN AT THE LONDON ESTATE OF KHALID bin MAHFOUZ, one of the major investors in BCCI (see (1991)).
And government forces continue to prevent us from exploring our own oil....