Thanks.
* Walid Khan Amin Shah : [Mohammed Jamal] Khalifa [ founder of International Islamic Relief Organization and the Khalifa Trading Industries] and Bayazid [president of Benevolence International Foundation] were arrested in December 14, 1994 in Mountain View, California on charges related to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Khalifa was planning to fly to the Philippines.
When the FBI looked inside Khalifa's luggage, they found manuals in Arabic on training terrorists, which covered subjects such as bomb-making and other violent activities. Khalifa claims that his possession of the materials was in innocence.
They also found a personal organizer with several contacts. One phone number was for Wali Khan Amin Shah, a member of the Manila cell, which was plotting Operation Bojinka at the time. There was also a listing for an unknown man, who might have been Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Khalifa was placed in solitairy confinement and the contents of his luggage were logged and edited. http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:fth9KYfHFdoJ:www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Mohammed-Jamal-Khalifa+Mohammed+Jamal+Khalifa&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
JANUARY 5, 1995 : (SEC OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER WRITES TO ATTNY GEN JANET RENO, PRESSURING HER TO DEPORT MOHAMMED JAMAL KHALIFA) "Secretary of State Warren Christopher wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno on Jan. 5, 1995, arguing that 'to permit Mr. [Mohammed Jamal] Khalifa to remain at large inside the United States in light of his alleged activities and criminal conviction in Jordan . . . . would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.'"
"Of course," notes the author, "the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco wasn't asking for Khalifa to be released, merely held for questioning. Khalifa had traveled the world as Osama bin Laden's 'banker.' He was a potential intelligence gold mine."
Secretary Christopher, however, prevailed. Khalifa was deported to Jordan, where, at trial, the murder witness recanted. Bin Laden's banker was promptly set free. U.S. counterterrorism officials were dumbfounded by the administration's decision to let Khalifa go. "Not even speaking in retrospect, but contemporaneous with what the intelligence community knew about bin Laden, Khalifa's deportation was unreal," CIA counterterrorism analyst Jacob L. Boesen told the author.
Concludes Lance: "In light of what we now know. . . Khalifa's release has to be considered one of the most grievous instances of negligence in the years leading up to 9/11.[/2001]" ----------- Clinton Administration Freed Bin Laden's Banker, News Max, Sunday Jan. 4, 2004; 11:43 p.m. EST
Speaking of the IIRO:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday named the Philippine and Indonesian branches of the International Islamic Relief Organization as fund-raisers for al Qaeda and other terror groups. It also designated one of the Saudi-based organization's high-ranking officials, Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, as a fund-raiser for al Qaeda. The action means that no American can have any dealings with the two branches of the organization or with Al-Mujil and that any assets they have in the United States will be frozen.
"Al-Mujil has a long record of supporting Islamic militant groups, and he has maintained a cell of regular financial donors in the Middle East who support extremist positions," said Stuart Levey, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
A Treasury official said the organization had no offices in the United States.
In a background paper, the department said Al-Mujil had provided donor funds directly to al Qaeda. He was sometimes called the "million dollar man" for supporting Islamic militant groups, including Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group, both based in Southeast Asia, it said ----- "US Treasury names suspected al Qaeda fund-raisers," Reuters Staff, Yahoo News/Reuters, August 3, 2006