Posted on 03/21/2003 8:12:22 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
FBI official says terrorist groups may raise funds from Muslims in the region as their money pipeline in Mid-East is cut off
INDONESIA, Malaysia and Singapore are being closely watched by the FBI as possible new conduits for Al-Qaeda funds.
The three countries are also seen by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation as places where terrorist groups are likely to raise money from the predominantly Muslim populace.
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The bureau believes that terrorist funds are flowing into South-east Asia after the money pipeline was shut down in the Middle East.
The United Arab Emirates was previously the main conduit for Al-Qaeda funds.
But it recently introduced tough laws against money laundering that made it difficult for the terrorist group to move its funds through the country's banking system.
This has forced Al-Qaeda to look for alternative routes for its funds.
The group has turned to South-east Asia, where it has proxies like the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) to do its bidding.
The FBI's senior financial sleuth, Mr Dennis Lormel, told The Straits Times: 'There are indications that some of those who are recruited by the JI in Singapore and Malaysia have legitimate incomes to support terrorist activities.
'I wouldn't be surprised if more terrorist funds are flowing into South-east Asia.'
The chief of the FBI's anti-terrorist financing unit said that his agents, who were in Indonesia and Australia to investigate the Bali bombing, had identified suspects linked to groups in the US which were raising funds for terrorist activities.
'We provided help to Indonesia to identify a JI bank account,' he said.
He said he shared the assessment of the Indonesian police that Indonesia was the JI's operational location and Malaysia and Singapore the venues for its fund-raising activities.
He also disclosed that the Indonesian head of the JI, Hambali (also known as Riduan Isamuddin), had directed his members to set up non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as fronts to raise funds.
Donations to one NGO were used to buy weapons and to send terrorist cell members for training in Afghanistan.
In another case, the Jakarta office of the Saudi Arabian-based charity, Al-Haramain, was 'corrupted' by radical elements.
Mr Lormel visited the region recently to meet local law enforcement officials and bankers to share the experience of the bureau in successfully disrupting the terrorist money trail within the US.
The US Treasury Department, he added, had compiled a list of individuals, companies and charities in the region with suspected Al-Qaeda links with the intention of freezing their accounts.
Charities, non-governmental organisations and mosques are used as fronts to obtain funds.
The classic modus operandi for Al-Qaeda was to install an imam, the spiritual head, in a mosque.
The imam would then exploit Islamic rhetoric to raise money and recruit members.
A further disruption of terrorist funding is expected.
The capture in Pakistan this month of Al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, known as The Brain, is expected to yield a treasure trove of information about the network, including its financial dealings.
Recovered from the apartment where Khalid was living was a wealth of documents and two computer hard drives.
Mr Lormel was confident that the haul of data would expose more Al-Qaeda members operating in the region.
He gave Singapore high marks for its level of sophistication and experience in dealing with the money-laundering activities of terrorist groups.
He also had positive comments about Malaysia's efforts in combating the problem.
But he observed that, prior to the Bali bombing in October last year, Indonesia had been indifferent to the situation.
However, this attitude had changed and the FBI was getting more assistance from the Indonesian authorities, he commented.
'We need a coalition to fight money laundering by terrorists,' he said.
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