Al Qaeda May Have Exploited Saudis' Charitable Giving to Fund Sept. 11 (Love them 503C)

Senate Committee Stonewalled in Saudi Money Chase
Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com
Friday, Aug. 1, 2003
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., ran up against a stone wall during Thursday’s Senate Government Affairs Committee hearings on “Terrorism Financing: Origination, Organization, and Prevention,” when he demanded to know from witnesses why the U.S. is “soft on economic sanctions” with regard to Saudi Arabia.

Joined by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Carl Levin, D-Mich., he grilled John S. Pistole, the FBI’s acting assistant director for counterterrorism, and Richard Newcomb, Treasury’s director of the office of foreign assets control, on why recommended sanctions against Saudi Arabian entities with suspected links to bankrolling terrorists are apparently being sidestepped in the administration’s inter-agency policy committee.

Under questioning by Levin, Newcomb explained that after putting together an incriminating evidentiary package concerning a particular charitable organization or other entity, the choices for action boiled down to “designation,” (formal listing as a terror supporting organization) or “law enforcement,” (moving to charge, arrest and prosecution) or “diplomatic.” Various departments such as FBI, CIA, Treasury, and State then make their wishes, exceptions and concerns ("equities") known via the policy committee.

Collins pressed in to ask Pistole if it wasn’t true that about 95 percent of all recommendations for sanctions against Saudi Arabian entities were blocked by one agency or another, for one reason or another. Pistole admitted telling a Senate staffer during earlier debriefings that it might not be “quite that high.”

List Not Forthcoming

But when asked seriatim by the trio for a listing of those Saudi Arabian organizations recommended for sanctions, that list was not forthcoming.

Levin wanted to know if the names were classified. The answer was “No.” Newcomb advised that the names were “sensitive” and inappropriate to bandy about in a “public forum.”

Agitated, Specter noted at one point that he was intrigued by the good questions by the panel but aggravated by the lack of answers. Later, Pistole returned to his office without being dismissed or granted leave to go by the chair.

Jonathan M. Winer, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state international law enforcement, offered his take on the dilemma, saying that under the presenting vetting system “everyone (all the agencies) are asserting equities.” He added that because of the independent operation of the agencies involved, a thumbs-down by one effectively “shut downs” any attempt at sanctions.

“This is not a good thing,” Winer concluded.

“Saudi funds have supported Islamic charitable activities throughout the world, for Islamic centers, mosques, schools, health care facilities, food distribution, and housing. Some half a dozen of the most visible charities, including two of Saudi Arabia's largest, the International Islamic Relief Organization ("IIRO") and the World Muslim League, have repeatedly been linked to supporting terrorist organizations in areas well beyond the Persian Gulf,” Winer explained in his opening statement.

Author and executive director of The Investigative Project, Steve Emerson, relayed a BBC story about one Abu Nasir was employed by IIRO, which eventually transferred him from Thailand to Lahore, Pakistan in 1994.

“Abu Nasir was informed by his superiors that approximately 40 to 50 percent of IIRO’s charitable funds were being diverted to finance terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Kashmir. As part of his duties, Abu Nasir was to visit the training camps, assess what funding was needed, and make a formal report back at headquarters. Nasir himself was eventually instructed by Shaykh Al-Gamdin to undergo military training at one of the camps, where he met Osama bin Laden.”

Close Ties to the Ruling Class

Dore Gold, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, told the panel that various large Saudi Arabian charitable organizations are mislabeled as Non-governmental Organizations or NGOs -- and should be referred to as simply Government Organizations or GOs because of their close ties to the ruling class of that country.

“As already demonstrated, Saudi Arabia erected a number of large global charities in the 1960s and 1970s whose original purpose may have been to spread Wahhabi Islam, but which became penetrated by prominent individuals from al-Qaeda's global jihadi network. The three most prominent of these charities were the International Islamic Relief Organization (an offshoot of the Muslim World League), the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), and the Charitable Foundations of al-Haramain. All three are suspected by various global intelligence organizations of terrorist funding.

“It would be incorrect to view these charities as purely non-governmental organizations. At the apex of each organization's board is a top Saudi official. The Saudi Grand Mufti, who is also a Saudi cabinet member, chairs the Constituent Council of the Muslim World League. The Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs chairs the secretariat of WAMY and the administrative council of al-Haramain. All three organizations have received large charitable contributions from the Saudi royal family that have been detailed in Saudi periodicals.”

In testimony, Pistole conceded that cooperation by Saudi Arabia increased remarkably after the May 12, 2003 bombings of the three western compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

“[C]ooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has improved. The FBI sent an investigative team to the Kingdom and worked with the law enforcement and intelligence services to conduct the appropriate post incident investigation and evidence collection. Cooperation with the Saudi Arabian government continues on this and other terrorism investigations…

Initiatives

“In the wake of September 11, Saudi Arabia has increased its counterterrorism efforts with the following initiatives:

• Saudi Arabia has put new laws and regulations in place for all charitable groups, ensuring that they are audited to prevent the flow of funds to entities other than charity.

• Saudi Arabia has further strengthened its laws and regulations regarding money laundering. These efforts include new rules concerning the verification of customers' identities as well as restrictions on non-residents' ability to open accounts in the country.

• Saudi Arabia and the United States maintain a Counter-Terrorism Committee comprised of intelligence and law enforcement personnel who meet regularly to share information and resources and develop action plans to root out terrorist networks.

• In March 2002, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. jointly blocked the accounts of Bosnia and Somalia branches of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, and in the summer of 2002, jointly froze the assets of the Rabita Trust, and those of its director Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, an associate of Bin Laden who provided financial and logistical support to al-Qaeda.

• Saudi Arabia has contributed to the break up of a number of al-Qaeda cells, the arrests of key al-Qaeda leaders and capture of al-Qaeda members in Saudi Arabia.”

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