The Muslim Brotherhood's Long-Standing War On The West (US Politicians)

1985-1989:

Bin Laden’s Mentor Azzam Recruits Fighters All Over World with APPARENT CIA SUPPORT -

Bin Laden’s MENTOR SHEIKH ABDULLAH AZZAM frequently travels all over the world with the APPARENT SUPPORT of the CIA. Slate will later write,

“Azzam trotted the globe during the 1980s to promote the AFGHAN JIHAD AGAINST the SOVIETS. By the time of his death in 1989, he had recruited between 16,000 and 20,000 mujaheddin from 20 countries to Afghanistan, visited 50 American cities to advance his cause, and dispatched acolytes to spread the gospel in 26 US states, not to mention across the Middle East and Europe.”

Slate calls him “the LENIN of INTERNATIONAL JIHAD,” noting that he “didn’t invent his movement’s ideas, but he furthered them and put them into practice around the world.” [Slate, 4/16/2002]

At the time, the US is supporting the Afghans fighting the Soviets and it will later be alleged that the CIA sUPPORTED AZZAM as part of this effort. BARNETT RUBIN, a COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR and SENIOR FELLOW at the COUNCIL on FOREIGN RELATIONS (CFR), will claim in 1995 that sources told him AZZAM was “ENLISTED” by the CIA to help unite the fractious Afghan rebel groups.

Rubin claims AZZAM was considered a PRIME ASSET because of his “close connections to the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, SAUDI INTELLIGENCE, and the MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE.” But Azzam made no secret of his desire for a NO COMPROMISE to CONQUER the ENTIRE WORLD.

In 1988 in New Jersey, he [AZZAM],

“Blood and martyrdom are the only way to create a Muslim society” and he wants “to ignite the spark that may one day burn Western interests all over the world.”

He is frequently accompanied on his US lecture tours by El-SAYYUD NOSAIR and CLEMENT RODNEY-El, both of whom will later be CONVICTED of al-Qaeda-linked ATTACKS in the US. [New Yorker, 3/17/1995]

CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) Executive Director NIHAD AWAD is a LEADER in the IAP (Islamic Association for Palestine) at this time. ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) affiliates, such as IAP and the MAYA (Muslim Arab Youth Association), host Azzam and arrange his visits to Islamic centers throughout the US. [New Republic, 2/27/2007]

1989 and After:

CIA Supposedly Supports Muslim Charity Tied to Bin Laden

The 1999 book “Dollars for Terror” will allege that in 1989, Mercy International, a “subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood, was able to establish its HEADQUARTERS in the United States, in the state of MICHIGAN, with the assistance of the CIA.

The CIA Agency provided significant logistical and financial support to this ‘humanitarian’ organization, enabling it to act clandestinely in the various BALKAN conflicts as well as within the Muslim communities of several RUSSIAN REPUBLICS.” [Labeviere, 1999, pp. 364]

Mercy International will later be tied to al-Qaeda in a number of ways. For instance, in the mid-1990s its PAKISTAN branch will be headed by ZAHID SHAIKH MOHAMMED, BROTHER of 9/11 MASTERMIND KHALID SHAIKH MOHAMMED.
(see 1988-Spring 1995). [Los Angeles Times, 9/1/2002]

Its KENYA BRANCH will be tied to the 1998 US EMBASSY BOMBING there. Its PHILIPPINE BRANCH is tied to MOHAMMED JAMAL KHALIFA, BIN LADEN’S BROTHER-IN-LAW. [Burr and Collins, 2006, pp. 128, 188-189]

Branches of this charity in different countries have SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NAMES such as MERCY INTERNATIONAL-USA and MERCY INTERNATIONAL RELIEF AGENCY, and it has been CLAIMED that the US BRANCH HAS NO CONNECTION with the TERRORISM-RELATED BRANCHES. HOWEVER, a 2003 article will draw links between the US branch and other branches. [National Review, 9/4/2003]

Head-quarters in Michigan. CIA support. The Islamic - Egypt, Saudi etc., banking is “closely associated with the neoliberal free-trade philosophy of the CHICAGO SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, and with the free-trade prescriptions of the IMC - International Monetary Fund”. They had branches in KENYA. One can’t help but wonder if this was the reason Obama arrived in Chicago - an area where he had NO connections.

1986-October 1999:

New Jersey Firm Investors List Is - ‘Who’s Who of Designated Terrorists’

BMI Inc., a real estate investment firm based in SECAUCUS, New Jersey, is formed in 1986. Former counterterrorism “TSAR” RICHARD CLARKE will state in 2003, “While BMI [has] held itself out publicly as a financial services provider for Muslims in the United States, its investor list suggests the possibility this FACADE was just a COVER to CONCEAL terrorist support. BMI’s investor list reads like a who’s who of designated terrorists and Islamic extremists.”

Investors in BMI include: [US Congress, 10/22/2003]

SOLIMAN BIHEIRI. He is the head of BMI for the duration of the company’s existence. US prosecutors will later call him the US BANKER for the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, a BANNED EGYPTIAN MILLITANT GROUP. Biheiri’s computer will eventually be searched and found to have contact information for GHALEB HIMMAT and YOUSSEF NADA, LEADERS of the Al TAQWA BANK, which is FOUNDED TWO YEARS AFTER BMI (see 1988).

After 9/11, the US and UN will designate both HIMMAT and NADA and the Al Taqwa Bank as TERRORIST FINANCIERS, and the bank will be shut down (see November 7, 2001). US prosecutors say there are other ties between BMI and Al Taqwa, including financial transactions. BIHEIRI also has CLOSE TIES WITH YOUSUF ABDULLAH AL-QARADAWI. Qaradawi is said to be a HIGH-RANKING MEMBER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, a SHAREHOLDER in AL TAQWA BANK, and has made statements supporting suicide bombings against Israel.

In 2003, US investigators will accuse BIHEIRI of ties to terrorist financing. He will be CONVICTED of immigration violations and lying to a federal agent (see June 15, 2003). [Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2003; Forward, 10/17/2003] Biheiri will be CONVICTED of immigration FRAUD in 2003 and then convicted of LYING to federal investigators in 2004 (see June 15, 2003).

ABDULLAH AWAD bin LADEN, a NEPHEW of Osama bin Laden. He INVESTS about a half-million dollars in BMI REAL ESTATE VENTURES, earning a profit of $70,000. For most of the 1990s he RUNS the US BRANCH of a Saudi charity called WORLD ASSEMBLY of MUSLIM YOUTH (WAMY). He is investigated by the FBI in 1996 (see February-September 11, 1996), and WAMY will be raided by US agents in 2004 (see June 1, 2004). The raid is apparently PART of a LARGER INVESTIGATION into terrorism financing. In 2001, at least two of the 9/11 hijackers will live three blocks away from the WAMY office (see March 2001 and After). [Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2003; Washington Post, 4/19/2004]

NUR AND IMAN BIN LADEN, two FEMALE RELATIVES of OSAMA bin Laden. Abdullah Awad bin Laden will INVEST some of their money in a BMI REAL ESTATE PROJECT. While their bin Laden family ties are intriguing, NEITHER have been ACCUSED of any knowing CONNECTIONS to terrorist financing. [Washington Post, 4/19/2004]

Mousa ABU MARZOUK. He has identified himself as a TOP LEADER of HAMAS. The US declares him a terrorist in 1995 (see July 5, 1995-May 1997). BMI makes at least two TRANSACTIONS with MARZOUK after he is declared a terrorist. [Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2003]

YASSIN al-QADI, a Saudi multimillionaire. His lawyers will later claim he has no terrorism ties and had only a passing involvement with BMI and liquidated his investment in it in 1996. HOWEVER, another company operating from the same office as BMI is called KADI INTERNATIONAL INC. and LISTS its PRESIDENT AS al-Qadi. Al-Qadi is also a MAJOR INVESTOR in the suspect COMPUTER COMPANY PTECH (see 1994; 1999-After October 12, 2001). Al-Qadi and BMI head Biheiri have financial dealings with YAQUB MIRZA, a PAKISTANI who MANAGES a group of Islamic CHARITIES in Virginia known as the SAAR NETWORK (see July 29, 1983). These CHARITIES RAIDED in March 2002 on suspicions of terrorism ties (see March 20, 2002). Shortly after 9/11, the US will officially declare al-Qadi a terrorist financier (see October 12, 2001). [Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2003]

SALEH KAMEL. BMI allegedly receives a $500,000 investment from the DALLAH Al-BARAKA BANKING CONGLOMERATE, which is HEADED BY KAMEL. FOR MANY YEARS BEFORE 9/11, OMAR al-BAYOUMI, AN ASSOCIATE of 9/11 HIJACKERS KHALID ALMIHDHAR and NAWAF ALHAZMI, will RECEIVE A SALARY FROM DALLAH, DESPITE DOING NO WORK. SOME WILL ACCUSE AL-BAYOUMI of INVOLVEMENT IN FUNDING THE 9/11 PLOT, but that REMAINS TO BE PROVEN (see August 1994-July 2001). KAMEL reportedly founded a SUDANESE ISLAMIC BANK which housed accounts for senior al-Qaeda operatives. He is a multi-billionaire heavily involved in promoting Islam, and his NAME APPEARS on the GOLDEN CHAIN, a list of early al-Qaeda supporters (see 1988-1989). HE DENIES SUPPORTING TERRORISM. [US Congress, 10/22/2003; Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2004]

The KUWAIT FINANCE HOUSE. According to CLARKE, this organization is alleged to be a BMI investor and the “financial arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait.

Several al-Qaeda operatives have allegedly been associated with the KUWAITI MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, INCLUDING Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Suliman abu Ghaith, Wadih El-Hage, and Ramzi Yousef.” In 2003, an apparent successor entity to the Kuwait Finance House will be designated as a terrorist entity by the US. A lawyer for the Kuwait Finance House will later say the bank has never let its accounts be used for terrorism. [Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2003; US Congress, 10/22/2003; Wall Street Journal, 4/20/2005]

TAREK SWAIDAN. He is a Kuwaiti, an associate of al-Qadi, and a leading member of the Kuwaiti branch of the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD. It is unknown if he has made any denials about his alleged associations. [Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2003]

ABDURAHMAN ALAMOUDI. For many years he RUNS THE American Muslim Council, a LOBBY GROUP founded by a top Muslim Brotherhood figure. US prosecutors say he also is in the Brotherhood, and has alleged ties to HAMAS. In 2004, the US will sentence him to 23 years in prison for illegal dealings with Libya (see October 15, 2004). [Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2004; Washington Post, 10/16/2004]

The International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and the Muslim World League, closely connected SAUDI CHARITIES suspected of financing terrorism. They give BMI $3.7 million out of a $10 million endowment from unknown Saudi donors. The Financial Times will later note, “While it is not clear whether that money came from the Saudi government, [a 2003] affidavit quotes a CIA report that says the Muslim World League ‘is largely financed by the government of Saudi Arabia.’” BOTH organizations consistently DENY any support of terrorism financing, BUT in early 2006 it will be reported that US officials CONTINUE TO SUSPECT THEM of SUCH SUPPORT (see January 15, 2006). [Financial Times, 8/21/2003]

In 1992, a branch of the IIRO gives $2.1 million to BMI Inc. to invest in real estate. The money disappears from BMI’s books. In October 1999, BMI goes defunct after it is unable to repay this money to the IIRO branch. The IIRO branch gives BMI the rest of the $3.7 million between 1992 and 1998. BMI will use the money to buy real estate (see 1992). Eventually, SOME OF THIS MONEY WILL BE GIVEN TO HAMAS OPERATIVES in the West Bank and spent on violent actions against Israel. This will eventually lead to legal action in the US and a seizure of some of the money. [Wall Street Journal, 11/26/2002; Washington Post, 8/20/2003; Washington Times, 3/26/2004; Washington Post, 4/19/2004]

By 1992, BMI has projected revenues in excess of $25 million, BASED LARGELY ON THEIR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS IN THE US. [US Congress, 10/22/2003] IN EARLY 1999, MONTHS BEFORE BMI GOES DEFUNCT, the FBI HEARS EVIDENCE POTENTIALLY TYING BMI TO THE 1998 US EMBASSY BOMBINGS (see 10:35-10:39 a.m., August 7, 1998), BUT, AN INVESTIGATION INTO THIS WILL NOT BE PURSUED (see Early 1999). It should be noted that BMI had many investors, and presumably most BMI investors would have had no suspicions that their money might be used to fund terrorism or other types of violence.

1987-1991:

Bin Laden’s Brother-in-Law Khalifa Sets Up Al-Qaeda Fronts in Philippines

MOHAMMED JAMAL KHALIFA.

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, bin Laden’s BROTHER-IN-LAW, moves to the PHILIPPINES and sets up numerous financial fronts to benefit al-Qaeda. KHALIFA is not only one of bin Laden’s brothers-in-law, but he also says that during the 1980s, “OSAMA WAS MY BEST FRIEND. MORE THAN A BROTHER….” [Australian, 1/16/2003; CNN, 11/25/2004]

In the mid-1980s, Khalifa was already a very SENIOR MEMBER of the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN LEBANON AND RAN THE PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN OFFICE OF THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE, where he was active in sending recruits to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan (see Late 1980s).

Sent to the Philippines by bin Laden in 1987 or 1988, he soon MARRIES TWO FILIPINO WOMEN. He SETS UP more than a dozen BUSINESSES AND CHARITIES, all of which appear to be FRONTS TO FUND THE ABU SAYYAF AND MORO ISLAMIC LIBERATION FRONT (MILF) MILITANT GROUPS:

The Islamic Wisdom Worldwide Mission (IWWM), which will later be blamed for FUNNELING BIN LADEN MONEY to militants (see February 15, 1999 and October 8-November 8, 2002).

The International Relations and Information Center (IRIC), which is later seen as the main funding vehicle for the BONINKA PLOT (see Spring 1995).

The Philippine branch of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), founded in September 1991.

The IIRO does some charity work, but a PHILIPPINE CABINET OFFICIAL WILL LATER NOTE that it -

“built up the good will of the community through charity and then turned segments of the population into agents.”

The IIRO is a charity suspected of funding militant activities in numerous places around the world, but the US HAS BEEN RELUCTANT TO PROSECUTE IT DUE TO ITS DIRECT LINKS TO THE SAUDI GOVERNMENT (see January 1996 and October 12, 2001).

Khalifa is not only the first head of the IIRO’s Philippine branch, but also the IIRO’s regional director for all of Southeast Asia. The IIRO’s offices are often staffed by members of the Abu Sayyaf and MILF. For instance, one IIRO branch office director is also the Abu Sayyaf’s intelligence chief until he is killed in June 1994. [Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8/9/2000; CNN, 1/27/2002; Contemporary Southeast Asia, 8/1/2003; Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College, 9/1/2005 pdf file]

It is estimated that as much as 70 percent of the money from these fronts are spent on militant groups. In one case, a charity that KHALIFA CLAIMED HAD BUILT 30 ORPHANAGES HAD ONLY BUILT ONE. [Newsweek International, 10/22/2001] The Philippines will investigate Khalifa and expel him from the country by late 1994 (see December 15, 1994 and December 1, 1994).

KHALIFA apparently never returns [to the Phillipines]. He will no longer be directly connected to these charities, but they will all continue operating despite widely reported terrorist ties (see 1995 and After, February 15, 1999, August 9, 2000), and they will usually continue to be RUN BY KHALIFA’S CLOSE ASSOCIATES (see October 8-November 8, 2002 and September 25, 2003).

The US will FINALLY OFFICIALLY DECLARE THE PHILIPPINE BRANCH OF THE IIRO A TERRORISM FINANCIER IN 2006 (see August 3, 2006).

One can see why other countries have no regard for us. The Saudi come first perhaps even get billing ahead of the US.

1988:

Al Taqwa Bank Founded; Tied to Nazi Supporters
Edit event -

Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood found the Al Taqwa Bank. This bank will later be accused of being the largest financial supporter of al-Qaeda, Hamas, the GIA in Algeria, and other organizations officially designated by the US as groups that sponsor terrorism. For instance, the Treasury Department will later claim that $60 million in funding for Hamas will pass through Al Taqwa in 1997.

The bank is mostly based on both sides of the border between Switzerland and Italy, but important branches are established in Liechtenstein and the Bahamas as offshore tax havens. [US Department of the Treasury, 8/29/2002] Newsweek will explain, “Al Taqwa, which means ‘Fear of God,’ was launched… by leaders of the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, a SECRET SOCIETY DEVOTED TO THE CREATION OF A WORLDWIDE ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT (a goal not unlike the UPPER echelons, in the secret society FreeMasons.

The Brotherhood wanted to create a FINANCIAL INSTITUTION in which devout Muslims could INVEST their money. It would OPERATE UNDER STRICT ISLAMIC LAW, which PROHIBITS BANKS FROM CHARGING INTEREST. But investigators believe the convoluted structure of Al Taqwa made it easy to use as a money-laundering mechanism.… The [central] operation consisted of four men working at computers in a small apartment in LUGANO, Switzerland. Lugano, which sits near the Italian border, is a KIND OF ALPINE TIJUANA, well known as a HAVEN FOR TAX EVADERS AND MONEY LAUNDERERS.” [Newsweek, 3/18/2002]

Reportedly, in 1995, Italian investigators will tell a Swiss prosecutor that Al Taqwa and related entities comprise “the most important financial structure of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic terrorist organizations.” [Salon, 3/15/2002] SIX MEMBERS OF THE bin LADEN FAMILY ARE AMONG THE ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTORS TO THE BAHAMAS BRANCH. [Wall Street Journal, 12/17/2001]

A number of the bank’s leaders have TIES TO Nazism or fascism. For instance, when BOARD CHAIRMAN YOUSSEF NADA was a young man, he ALLEGEDLY WORKED WITH THE ARMED BRANCH OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND NAZI GERMANY MILITARY INTELLIGENCE (and rewarded with this plum job). AHMAD HUBER, a SWISS CONVERT to Islam previously known as Albert Huber, IS BOTH A DIRECTOR OF THE BANK AND AN OPEN NEW-NAZI. HE PROUDLY DISPLAYS PORTRAITS OF ADOLF HITLER AND OSAMA bin LADEN NEXT TO EACH OTHER IN HIS HOUSE. [Washington Post, 4/29/2002; Asia Times, 11/8/2002]

According to a reporter who will interview him in 1995, Huber’s office is ADORNED WITH PORTRAITS OF HITLER, NAZI LEADER HEINRICH, AND ISLAMIC MILITANTS (terrorists). [Boston Herald, 11/8/2001] Huber will spend decades attempting to forge links between the neo-Nazi movement and the radical Muslim movement, speaking to and networking with both groups. He will be quoted around 2001 saying that the al-QAEDA LEADERS he met in January 2001 are “VERY DISCREET, WELL-EDUCATED, AND VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE” (most likely the Muslim Brotherhood). (see Late January 2001). [Financial Times, 11/8/2001; Playboy, 2/1/2002]

The founder of Al Taqwa appears to be FRANCOIS GENOUD, who will die in 1996. Genoud is a SWISS LAWYER WHO FUNDED THE NAZIS AND SERVED AS A NAZI AGENT DURING WORLD WAR II. After the war, he FUNDED the secret ODESSA ORGANIZATION, which enabled many notorious Nazi fugitives to escape to safe havens in South America and elsewhere. Authorities believe that GENOUD USES AL TAQWA TO FUND INTERNATIONAL MILITANTS LIKE CARLOS THE JACKAL AND BIN LADEN. He also paid for the legal expenses of ex-Nazis such as KLAUS BARBIE and ADOLF EICHMANN. Many Muslim radicals and neo-Nazis share a strong HATRED FOR JEWS AND THE UNITED STATES. [San Francisco Chronicle, 3/12/2002]

Al Taqwa will be shut down shortly after 9/11 for its support of al-Qaeda, Hamas, and other groups officially designated as terrorist organizations
(see November 7, 2001).

(April 25-May 1989):

US Holds Secret Meetings with Egyptian Terror Group Headed by ‘Blind Sheikh’

Members of Egyptian militant group Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, whose spiritual head is the ‘Blind Sheikh,’ SHEIKH OMAR ABDUL-RAHMAN, hold a SERIES OF SECRET MEETINGS WITH US OFFICIALS AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN CAIRO. The meetings are initiated by Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, which wants to co-operate with the US, because it THINKS THE US IS CO-OPERATING WITH AND SUPPORTING THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN EGYPT.

At the meetings, representatives of the group tell the US:

Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya has between 150,000 and 200,000 members;

One of the representatives at the meetings sat on Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya’s shura, or leadership council, between 1981 and 1988. The 11 members of the group’s shura are named at the meetings, as is its operational commander;

Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya thinks highly of Saudi Arabian KING FAHD, but believes he should take a stronger line against IRAN. HOWEVER, ABDUL-RAHMAN MET AN IRANIAN DELEGATION IN PAKISTAN IN AUTUMN 1988;

The group will not attack US diplomats;

Abdul-Rahman travels to the US yearly, and also travels to Britain;

The group is not as secret and violent as represented by the Egyptian government and has undergone a “change in thinking,” becoming concerned about its radical and violent image.

Embassy officials are skeptical about some of the claims, as the group’s representatives reveal more than the officials think is prudent. ONE YEAR AFTER THE MEETINGS, ABDUL-RAHMAN WILL BE ISSUED A US VISA BY A CIA OFFICER AND MOVE TO THE US (reminds me of all the renewed visa’s of the attempted bomber of Times Sq, despite his being on a terrorist list, he got his citizenship just months before the attempt, again despite being on lists, he got on a plane heading to the ME despite being on numerous no-fly lists. Someone ignored the terrorist lists - renewed his visas - got him the citizenship and took him off the fly-list - who?). [US Embassy in Cairo, 4/25/1989 pdf file; US Embassy in Cairo, 5/3/1989 pdf file]

After July 1991:

Bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, and Muslim Brotherhood Benefit from Collapse of BCCI, and Form New Financial Network to Replace it -

In July 1991, the criminal BCCI bank is shut down (see July 5, 1991), and Osama bin Laden apparently loses some of his fortune held in BCCI accounts as a result (see July 1991). But while bin Laden loses money, he and his future second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri GAIN INFLUENCE. Other Islamist militants have been heavily relying on BCCI for their finances, and in the wake of BCCI’s collapse they are forced to bank elsewhere.

Author ROLAND JACQUARD will later claim that “following [the bank’s closure], funds [are] TRANSFERRED from BCCI to banks in DUBAI, JORDAN, and SUDAN CONTROLLED BY THE MUSLI BROTHERHOOD. Some of the money [is] handed back to organizations such as the FIS [a political party in ALGERIA]. Another portion [is] transferred by Ayman al-Zawahiri to SWITZERLAND, the NETHERLANDS, LONDON, ANTWERP, and MALAYSIA.” [Jacquard, 2002, pp. 129]

Author ADAM ROBINSON will come to similar conclusions, noting that when BCCI collapses bin Laden has just moved to SUDAN, which is ruled by HASSAN al-TURABI, who has similar Islamist views to bin Laden. Robinson writes, “Without a system by which money could be transferred around the world invisibly, it would be relatively simple for terrorist funds to be traced. Dealing with this crisis fell to al-Turabi.

In desperation he [al-Turabi] turned to Osama.… The future of the struggle could come to rest on Osama’s shoulders.” Over the next several months, bin Laden and a small team of financial experts work on a plan to replace the functions of BCCI. Bin Laden already knows many of the main Islamist backers from his experience in the AFGHAN war. “During the summer of 2001 he discreetly made contact with many of the wealthiest of these individuals, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH AN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK of COMPANIES.… Within months, Osama unveiled before an astonished al-Turabi what he called ‘the Brotherhood Group.’” This is apparently a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Robinson says this group is made up of 134 Arab businessmen with a COLLECTIVE WEALTH OF MANY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. The network will effectively replace BCCI for Islamist militants. [Robinson, 2001, pp. 138-139]

A French report shortly after 9/11 will confirm that bin Laden’s network largely replaces BCCI (see October 10, 2001). Right around this time, bin LADEN IS SEEN AT THE LONDON ESTATE OF KHALID bin MAHFOUZ, one of the major investors in BCCI (see (1991)).

And government forces continue to prevent us from exploring our own oil....

March 1993:

Muslim Brotherhood Said to Help Fund World Trade Center Bombing -

An Egyptian official will later detail an alleged confession of MAHMUD ABOUHALIMA made at this time. Abouhalima was captured in Egypt in March 1993 and reportedly tortured into a confession there before being handed over to US officials. He will later be convicted for a role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (see February 26, 1993).

Abouhalima supposedly confessed that the bomb plot originated in AFGHANISTAN among Arab veterans of the Afghan war. He also tells his interrogators that it was approved by men describing themselves as IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE AGENTS AND by the “Blind Shiekh,” Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman.

Abouhalima further confessed that he was a member of the Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (the Islamic Group), a militant group headed by Abdul-Rahman, and that the group obtained its money from various sources INCLUDING THE GERMAN OFFICES OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD. It is unclear how much this account can be trusted, especially since the Egyptian government has conflicts with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood at the time. [New York Times, 7/16/1993]

However, two March 1993 Los Angeles Times and New York Times reports appears to confirm at least part of Abouhalima’s confession. The Times articles reports that two of the bomb plotters, MOHAMMED SALAMEH and NIDAL AYYAD, had BANK ACCOUNTS IN THE US where they received a total of $10,000 sent from Germany prior to the bombing. [Los Angeles Times, 3/12/1993; New York Times, 3/12/1993]

And in 1999, journalist SIMON REEVE will report, “FBI and CIA investigations traced some of the money given to the WTC conspirators back to Germany and the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.” [Reeve, 1999, pp. 245] However, nothing more about this possible Muslim Brotherhood connection has been reported since.

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