Hamas Invests in U.S. Real Estate

MENL ^ | July 15, 2004 | MENL Staff

[me_newswire]

HAMAS INVESTS IN U.S. REAL ESTATE

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Hamas was said to have invested up to $25 million in housing projects throughout the United States.

U.S. officials said the investment was believed to have stemmed from Saudi and other Gulf Arab sources as part of an effort to finance Hamas insurgency operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They said the funding pointed to the close links between Hamas and Gulf Arab supporters.

Hamas investments in the United States began in the early 1990s through Mussa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas's political bureau, officials said. The investments were handled mostly through a firm founded by an Egyptian national sentenced in January 2004 to one year in prison for relaying millions of dollars to Al Qaida as well as other Islamic insurgency groups.

FBI officials have provided evidence of Hamas investments during the investigation of Soliman Biheiri, alleged to have been a key conduit of Saudi and Gulf funding to Al Qaida and Hamas. The investigation of Biheiri, sentenced to one year in jail, was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and included numerous Saudi-sponsored groups in the Washington D.C. area.

[3AngelaD]

I am in the process of redecorating my house and am convinced that Hamas owns all of the furniture stores in Maryland and Northern Virginia.