Philanthropist, or Fount of Funds for Terrorists?
By JEFF GERTH and JUDITH MILLER
hey are the elite of Saudi society — wealthy, respected men with investments that span the globe and reputations for generosity.
Yasin al-Qadi is among the prominent Saudis who those in need of charity or shrewd business advice could turn to.
But the United States government now says that Mr. Qadi and many other well-connected Saudi citizens have transferred millions of dollars to Osama bin Laden through charities and trusts like the Muwafaq Foundation supposedly established to feed the hungry, house the poor and alleviate suffering.
In describing Muwafaq, which means "Blessed Relief" in Arabic, as a front for Mr. bin Laden's terror network, the Bush administration has put Saudi Arabia, one of its most important Middle East allies, in a delicate bind.
The Muwafaq Foundation has been administered by some of the kingdom's leading families. Mr. Qadi, a businessman and investor, was cited yesterday on a list of those who support terrorism.
The foundation, however, was not mentioned. The reason, administration officials said, was the inability of United States officials to locate the charity or determine whether it is still in operation.
A statement accompanying the list yesterday said this about the foundation: "Muwafaq is an al- Qaeda front that receives funding from wealthy Saudi businessmen. Blessed Relief is the English translation. Saudi businessmen have been transferring millions of dollars to bin Laden through Blessed Relief."
In 1995, the trustees of the Muwafaq Foundation filed a libel suit in London against the newsletter Africa Confidential for linking the foundation to terrorist activities in Africa. The publication lost the lawsuit.
Court papers in that case, provided by Steven Emerson, a writer and commentator on terrorism, list the trustees as Mr. Qadi (under the spelling Yassin Quadi) and five others, including two members of the bin Mahfouz family.
"They are the crème de la crème of Saudi society," said Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential. The bin Mahfouz family controls the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia, which is the kingdom's largest bank and is the banker to the royal family. Sheik Khalid bin Mahfouz paid $225 million, including a $37 million fine, to escape possible charges in connection with the 1991 collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
Mr. Smith said that one year ago the six trustees wrote a letter referring to Muwafaq as "their former foundation" and they "gave no details about why or its status."
The lawyer in London who represented Mr. Qadi in the suit, Peter Carter-Ruck, did not return a phone call.
Mr. Qadi — under the spelling Kadi — is a major investor and director of Global Diamond Resources, a diamond exploration company based in San Diego, Calif. Public records show that he is involved in real estate, consulting, chemical and banking companies in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
The chairman of Global Diamond, Johann de Villiers, said of Mr. Qadi, "The guy I know is a very nice guy." He said he understood that Mr. Qadi had significant investments in the American stock market as well as some investments in Malaysia.
Mr. de Villiers traced Mr. Qadi's investment in his company to a meeting in London in December 1998. The meeting included an investment banker and some other Middle Eastern investors, including a senior member of the bin Laden family, who had invested in the diamond company one year earlier.
The bin Laden family controls one of the most powerful business groups in Saudi Arabia and its members have publicly disowned Osama bin Laden.
Mr. de Villiers said it was the assurances of the bin Laden family that gave him the confidence he needed to accept Mr. Qadi's $3 million investment in his small company.
"I relied on the representations of the bin Laden family," Mr. de Villiers said. "They vouched for him."
Mr. de Villiers said all calls for Mr. Qadi would be directed to his lawyer in London, Mr. Carter- Ruck.
This is not the first time that Mr. Qadi has come to the attention of the United States government in connection with the financing of terrorist activities. He was identified as the major source of funds for a money-laundering scheme for the Palestinian group Hamas. The case occurred in June 1998, when the Justice Department froze the funds of a foundation near Chicago called the Quranic Literacy Institute and one of its important volunteers, Muhammad A. Salah, for funneling money to Hamas, which the State Department says is a foreign terrorist organization.
According to court documents, the money was ultimately traced back to Mr. Qadi.
The government said that in 1991, Mr. Qadi, whom it described as a Saudi businessman, transferred by wire some $820,000 from a Swiss bank account for investment purposes. The transaction was intended to conceal the source of the money, which was from Mr. Qadi. The government said some of the money was ultimately used by Mr. Salah to help purchase weapons and reorganize the Hamas leadership in the West Bank and Gaza.
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