Bin Laden bought ship ‘for terror’
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1313688,00.html
SPANISH authorities are seeking the extradition of a German-based Syrian businessman suspected of helping Osama Bin Laden buy a ship, write Peter Conradi and Justin Sparks.
Marmoun Darkanzali, 46, believed to have been close to several of the hijackers on September 11, 2001, is alleged to have helped the Al-Qaeda leader with the purchase of a freighter. A source close to German intelligence named the ship as Jennifer and said it had been bought in 1993.
Spanish authorities claimed Darkanzali had been an important figure, providing logistical and financial support to Bin Laden in Britain, Spain and Germany since 1997.
Darkanzali was first arrested in 2001 but released. He has been under investigation for some time by German federal prosecutors. He was arrested in Hamburg on Friday on a Spanish international warrant.
It was not clear to what use Bin Laden would have put the vessel but there has long been speculation that Al-Qaeda has been amassing a fleet to raise money and for use in attacks.
German prosecutors said Darkanzali will contest the extradition. In the past he has denied any links with Al-Qaeda. He faces up to 12 years in jail in Spain if convicted of charges of membership of a terrorist organisation.
Missouri group subject of FBI probe
http://springfield.news-leader.com/news/today/1017-Missourigr-203050.html
KANSAS CITY — An investigation of a Missouri-based group accused of aiding terrorists has involved almost half the FBI's domestic field offices, a spokesman said.
The FBI office in Kansas City asked 26 of the bureau's 56 field offices to interview from 80 to 90 people as part of the investigation into the Islamic American Relief Agency-USA, FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said Friday.
Also Friday, the group issued a statement saying it would not accept donations and urging its patrons to contribute to other charities.
Lanza said the interviews took place Wednesday, the same day that search warrants were served at the charity's headquarters in Columbia, Mo. and the Wolcott, Conn., home of an Islamic leader.
Majeed Sharif, president of the United Muslim Mosque in Waterbury, Conn., has acknowledged doing work for the charity.
Magdy Galal, the mosque's vice president, told reporters Friday that Sharif's efforts were entirely humanitarian. He had made several visits to Africa to help feed the poor and build wells for drinking water, he said.
No one has been arrested or charged in what the FBI has described as a criminal investigation.
The Bush administration has accused the Sudan-based Islamic African Relief Agency of helping raise more than $5 million to finance Osama bin Laden and other terrorists. The Treasury Department directed U.S. banks to block any assets found in this country belonging to the Islamic African Relief Agency and five designated officials. The department said the group, headquartered in Khartoum, Sudan, has more than 40 offices worldwide.