Curious, isn't it, how Dubai and the UAE have suddenly become a country full of boy scouts. And how even the connection with 9/11 has now been reduced to a couple of the hijackers buying snack crackers at the Dubai airport. Sheesh.
Following is an excerpt from an interesting February 18, 2002, Washington Post article:
"The interviews offered a tantalizing glimpse into the critical yet mysterious role played by gold in the finances of Al Qaeda, both before and after the Sept. 11 attacks. Gold has allowed the Taliban and bin Laden largely to preserve their financial resources, despite the military attack that battered their forces in Afghanistan, investigators and intelligence sources said."
"Al Qaeda also used diamonds purchased in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tanzanite from Tanzania and other commodities to make money and hide assets. But gold played a uniquely important role in the group's financial structure, investigators and intelligence sources said, because it is a global currency."
"'Gold is a huge factor in the moving of terrorist money because you can melt it, smelt it or deposit it on account with no questions asked,' said a senior U.S. law enforcement official investigating gold transactions. 'Why move it through Dubai? Because there is a willful blindness there.'"
"Since it is exempt from international reporting requirements for financial transactions, gold is a favored commodity in laundering money from drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorist activities, U.S. officials said. In addition, Dubai, one of seven sheikhdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates, has one of the world's largest and least regulated gold markets, making it an ideal place to hide."
"Dubai is also one of the region's most open banking centers and is the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, one of three countries that maintained diplomatic relations with the Taliban until shortly after Sept. 11. Sitting at a strategic crossroad of the Gulf, South Asia and Africa, Dubai has long been a financial hub for Islamic militant groups. Much of the $500,000 used to fund the Sept. 11 attacks came through Dubai, investigators believe."
"'All roads lead to Dubai when it comes to money,' said Patrick Jost, who until last year was a senior financial enforcement officer in the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. 'Everyone did business there.' When the U.S. bombs began pounding Taliban and Al Qaeda targets last autumn, the rush of gold and money out of Afghanistan intensified."
"The Pakistani financial authorities said that $2 million to $3 million a day is usually hand-carried by couriers from Karachi to Dubai, mostly to buy gold. Late last year that amount increased significantly as money was moved out of Afghanistan, they said."
"Pakistani and U.S. officials estimate that $10 million from Afghanistan was taken out by courier over three weeks in late November and early December. The Taliban's fighters fled Kabul on Nov. 12 and abandoned Kandahar on Dec. 7."
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/opdat/selected/CTU/ctu.html
In addition, the US State Department Human Rights reports on the UAE have some, well, interesting disagreements with the spin in the article that leads off this thread.
You want to know something else curious about the boys in Dubai and the U.A.E.? Check the front page of today's Khaleej Times, http://www.khaleejtimes.com/index00.asp. Narry a word about this controversy. If you do a word search on ports the closest thing you'll find is sports. Don't bother to look in the business section either. I wonder why? Could it be that their press is so civilized it doesn't bother its citizens about the stupidity of Americans and their concerns over national security?
thank you for the ping.
I found this revealing. "The Attorney General and Public Prosecution offices of Abu Dhabi indicated that they are not interested in US criminal justice training given that the UAE criminal justice system is based primarily on shari'ah or Islamic criminal law."
NOT INTERESTED! And no doubt there is much more about american law they find revolting. No doubt they find infidels revolting. I wonder if any of our proponents of this deal can define "infidel" under islamic-shari'ah law?
My understanding is that an infidel is anyone not converted or born to islam. Correct me if I am wrong.
And finally, what shall be the fate of an "infidel" under islamic shari'ah law?