U.S. says al Qaeda hurting for funds

Reuters ^

[phoenix_004]

Osama bin Laden's militant al Qaeda network is facing financial problems because of difficulties collecting, transferring and storing funds, a top U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday. "We have indications that terrorist groups like al Qaeda and (Palestinian militants) Hamas are feeling the pressure and are hurting for money," Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey told the California and Florida Bankers Associations.

"While I am limited in what I can say about it, I can tell you that the information we have been receiving lately is encouraging. We have seen intelligence suggesting that terrorists are having trouble raising, moving and storing money," he said in a speech.

Levey said U.S. efforts to shut down corrupt charities and hold people who fund terrorism personally accountable had deterred previously willing donors from sending money to militants.

Hamas recently told Reuters it had been hit hard by a drop in revenue following a Saudi crackdown on the abuse of charities and other avenues of terrorism financing.

Levey said, "We are also seeing terrorist groups avoiding formal financing channels, and instead resorting to riskier and more cumbersome financial conduits like bulk cash smuggling."

The United States has taken a series of steps since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- including freezing funds, requiring banks to report more suspicious transactions and making informal cash brokers register with authorities -- to make it harder for militants to abuse the U.S. financial system.

But some officials and financial experts have expressed concern that the financial flows do not stop, but merely take a different, less visible route. They note that the use of informal channels such as bulk cash smuggling, or unlicensed couriers and remittance bureaus makes it harder for officials to track and disrupt terrorist financing.

[rdb3]

Al Qaida will have to pimp out their goats throughout their ummah!

Well, you do know that Osama recently released a video about his goat, and his growing hatred for we infidels in the United States, right? In that video, he said that he came across a movie that he ahd his goat were watching called "Truth or Dare" with Madonna. After seeing Madonna put the whole bottle in her mouth, his goat was so shocked that it committed suicide.

Rather than stop his beloved goat from killing itself, Osama said that he was so shocked by the video that he caught the chubbiness, and in a fit of rage swore to Allah that he would cut it off if it did not stop with the chubbiness. He then called it an infidel, and proceeded to bury his goat.

He finally declared another fatwa against us.

[Balata]

Must be time for another Italian kidnapping. They love to pay those ransoms.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Call Richard Gere! He will call Madeleine and find out how much to pay them!

[AFPhys]

It took me about 40 minutes to open a new savings account for my daughter (8yo) six months ago at a bank I already had another account in her name. They needed the info, essentially, to help in the War on Terrorism.

I am glad that this type of action is being done if it deters even in the slightest those who would fund the worms.

[Wiz]

Ping!

[sheik yerbouty]

I fatwa on his beard!

[sheik yerbouty]

I thought that Sean Penn Laden already organized one!

[AGreatPer]

I recently set up an account for my son where he goes to college. I am limited to giving him $10,000 per month (yea right). Tuition is paid direct by me to the college. $10,000 spending money???? Yoe Vey.

I too am glad that they are closing these small but important loop holes in the system. A lot of this money has been filtered by insurgents within our education system.

[Deetes]

No sending out the rags to the cleaners ... Hand washed poor obl ;-)