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August 3, 2006 Treasury Designates Director, Branches of Charity Bankrolling Al Qaida Network The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated the Philippine and Indonesian branch offices of the Saudi-based International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) for facilitating fundraising for al Qaida and affiliated terrorist groups. Treasury additionally designated Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, the Executive Director of the Eastern Province Branch of IIRO in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, a high-ranking IIRO official in Saudi Arabia, has used his position to bankroll the al Qaida network in Southeast Asia. Al-Mujil has a long record of supporting Islamic militant groups, and he has maintained a cell of regular financial donors in the Middle East who support extremist causes," said Stuart Levey, Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). "Today we are holding him to account." The IIRO was established in 1978 and, according to its website, the organization has branch offices in over 20 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. "It is particularly shameful when groups that hold themselves out as charitable or religious organizations defraud their donors and divert funds in support of violent terrorist groups," said Levey. "We have long been concerned about these IIRO offices; we are now taking public action to sever this link in the al Qaida network's funding chain."
Today's action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which is aimed at detecting and disrupting financial flows to terrorists. Under this authority, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the designees, and any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen. IDENTIFIER INFORMATION Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil (Al-Mujil) is the Executive Director of the IIRO Eastern Province (IIRO-EP) branch office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Al-Mujil has been called the "million dollar man" for supporting Islamic militant groups. Al-Mujil provided donor funds directly to al Qaida and is identified as a major fundraiser for the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Both ASG and JI are al Qaida-associated terrorist groups in Southeast Asia designated pursuant to the authorities of E.O. 13224. These terrorist groups are also on the United Nations 1267 Committee's consolidated list of individuals and entities associated with the Taliban, al Qaida and/or Usama Bin Ladin. In 2004, Al-Mujil invited a Philippines-based JI supporter to Saudi Arabia under the cover of traveling for the hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage), and planned to provide him with cash to carry back to the Philippines to support organizations including JI. Al-Mujil was also present in Afghanistan in the late 1990s and personally knew Usama Bin Ladin and deceased al Qaida co-founder Abdallah Azzam. Al-Mujil traveled continuously to meet with members of Bin Ladin's organization in Arab countries. In the 1990s, Al-Mujil established a relationship with senior al Qaida operational planner Khalid Shaykh Muhammad. Al-Mujil has a long history of providing support to terrorist organizations. He has contributed direct financial assistance to ASG leaders, including Abdurajak Janjalani (deceased). The Indonesian and Philippines branches of IIRO have received support from IIRO-EP, which in turn is controlled by Al-Mujil. Indeed, he is often responsible for authorizing payment transfers for IIRO Philippines (IIRO-PHL) and IIRO Indonesia (IIRO-IDN).
International Islamic Relief Organization, Philippines Branch Offices The IIRO-PHL is a source of funding for the al Qaida-affiliated ASG. IIRO-PHL has served as a liaison for the ASG with other Islamic extremist groups. A former ASG member in the Philippines familiar with IIRO operations in the country reported that a limited amount of foreign IIRO funding goes to legitimate projects and the rest is directed to terrorist operations. The Philippine branches of the IIRO were founded sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s by Muhammad Jamal Khalifah, who is Usama bin Laden's brother-in-law and has been identified as a senior al Qaida member. IIRO-PHL's director, Abd al-Hadi Daguit, is a trusted associate of Khalifah. While working as the director of IIRO-PHL, Khalifah maintained close connections with al Qaida through his relations with senior al Qaida supporters, including Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) Wa'el Hamza Julaidan. At the time Khalifah directed the IIRO-PHL, he employed an ASG intelligence officer as the provincial director of the IIRO-PHL in the Tawi-Tawi region of the Southern Philippines until that officer's death in 1994. In the mid 1990s, a major ASG supporter, Mahmud Abd Al-Jalil Afif, served as the director of the IIRO-PHL and used the organization to funnel money to terrorist groups including the ASG. Afif was implicated in the assassination of Father Salvatore Carzeda in San Jose Gusu, Zamboanga City, Philippines on June 20, 1992.
International Islamic Relief Organization, Indonesia Branch Office The IIRO Indonesia director has channeled money to two Indonesia-based, JI-affiliated foundations. Information from 2006 shows that IIRO-IDN supports JI by providing assistance with recruitment, transportation, logistics, and safe-havens. As of late 2002, IIRO-IDN allegedly financed the establishment of training facilities for use by al Qaida associates.
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