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U.S. Links Islamic Charities, Terrorist Funding: Affidavit Alleges Role of Northern Va. Groups
Washington Post ^ | August 20, 2003 | Douglas Farah

Posted on 08/19/2003 8:09:41 PM PDT by new cruelty

Islamic charities based in Northern Virginia and sponsored by the government of Saudi Arabia invested millions of dollars in a company suspected of funding al Qaeda and the Islamic Resistance Movement, the government alleged for the first time yesterday.

An affidavit made public in federal court in Virginia contends that the Muslim charities gave $3.7 million to BMI Inc., a private Islamic investment company in New Jersey that may have passed the money to terrorist groups. The money was part of a $10 million endowment from unnamed donors in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, according to the affidavit filed by David Kane of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Virginia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 1986; 1991; abumarzook; alkadi; alqaeda; balkans; bice; biheiri; bmi; bmiinc; bosnia; fallschurch; fallschurchcell; galebhimat; galebhimmat; ghalebhimmat; goldenchain; hamas; herndon; himat; himmat; iiro; irm; iro; jihadinamerica; kadi; kane; marzook; marzouk; mb; moneytrail; mousaabumarzook; mousamarzouk; muslimbrotherhood; mwl; nada; sanabel; sanabell; sanabellinc; saudiarabia; secaucus; solimanbiheiri; solimansbiheiri; sulaymanbiheiri; sulaymanbiheri; terrortrials; vajihad; yasinalkadi; yasinqadi; yassinqadi; youssefnada; yusufnada

1 posted on 08/19/2003 8:09:41 PM PDT by new cruelty
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To: new cruelty
Islamic charities based in Northern Virginia and sponsored by the government of Saudi Arabia invested millions of dollars in a company suspected of funding al Qaeda and the Islamic Resistance Movement, the government alleged for the first time yesterday.

no kidding ... they just now came to this conclusion? ... wonder if they'll ever wake up to what CAIR is up to?
2 posted on 08/19/2003 8:16:05 PM PDT by Bobby777
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To: new cruelty
The FedGov had better get after this business BUT FAST, lest the next terror strike here result in OPEN WARFARE -- not to be confused with the current PC version -- agaisnt islamist terrorists.
3 posted on 08/19/2003 8:30:45 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham
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To: new cruelty
Good article. Wish they'd put "Saudi" somewhere in the headline though.
4 posted on 08/19/2003 8:30:54 PM PDT by dagnabbit (Shielding Guilty Saudis = Accessory After The Fact)
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To: new cruelty
Shut them down, confiscate all funds and property, deport all workers and supporters who are not U.S. Citizens, and charge criminally those left behind that contributed to the "Charity" or gave it any kind of support or public praise.
5 posted on 08/19/2003 9:37:14 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: happygrl; aristeides; Betty Jo; Shermy
"My investigation demonstrates that BMI and its affiliates may have transferred funds to or for terrorists," Kane said. "I am aware that BMI made or conducted financial transactions with persons" who were designated terrorists by the United States and the United Nations, Kane said in the affidavit. ....

In recent weeks, Saudi officials also have said repeatedly that the government cannot be held responsible for the operations of far-flung Saudi charities. Saudi officials have contended that much of the money for the charities came from wealthy individuals and contributions made through mosques, not solely from the government.


...Soliman S. Biheiri founded BMI Inc., an investment firm that adhered to Islamic principles, in Secaucus, N.J., in 1986. One of BMI's chief investors was Saudi businessman Yasin Qadi, who the United States and United Nations named a "specially designated global terrorist" in October 2001 for his alleged support of both al Qaeda and the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas. Another major BMI investor, according to court documents, was Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook.

Qadi has repeatedly denied supporting terrorism.

The affidavit also alleges that Biheiri and BMI did business with other designated terrorist financiers, and that Biheiri's laptop computer contained contact information for two other men designated by the United States and the United Nations as terrorists -- Ghaleb Himmat and Youssef Nada, members of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood.

Himmat and Nada have denied funding terrorism but have repeatedly declined to comment on the U.S. investigation.

In the affidavit, government investigators allege that BMI attracted millions of dollars in investment capital from the Virginia-based charities, which are largely funded by the Saudi government and wealthy Saudi businessmen. However, it is unclear in the affidavit whether the $3.7 million invested by the charities in BMI came from the Saudi government or from individuals in the desert kingdom.

In early 1991, the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), one of the largest Saudi-sponsored charities in the world, opened a U.S. branch, which was based first in Washington and then in Northern Virginia. The IIRO is part of a huge Saudi-sponsored charitable and religious organization called the Muslim World League.

Shortly after opening its office, the IIRO, which operates in the United States under the name of the International Relief Organization (IRO), received $10 million from Saudi Arabia, according to the affidavit. The money was used to set up yet another company, Sana-Bell, Inc., which was responsible for investing the money. The return on the investment was to be used to fund IRO's charitable activities. Sana-Bell's office was also in the Herndon complex.

From 1992 to 1998, the affidavit said, Sana-Bell gave $3.7 million to BMI.

But by the late 1990s, the Sana-Bell money invested with BMI had disappeared. Sana-Bell sued BMI over the missing money, a move that Kane questioned in the affidavit.

In his affidavit, Kane noted that Sana-Bell was awarded a $2.3 million judgment against BMI, but never collected the money, and "the disposition of Sana-Bell's investment in BMI was never disclosed."

6 posted on 08/19/2003 9:45:05 PM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: new cruelty
I just read a book called "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us" by Steven Emerson, who is a terrorism expert and former CNN reporter (but we won't that against him). He's been following these charity groups since 1992. He got into it almost by accident and has done an excellent job piecing it all together. He says there are groups in many cities and that 80% of the mosques in the U.S. have radicals in them. He does make a point to say that the majority of Muslims are moderates, but that they're scared of the fundamentalists too. That the fundamentalists consider moderates the same as they do Americans and Jews.

It's a scary situation.
7 posted on 08/19/2003 10:43:57 PM PDT by sweetjane
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To: SandRat
That sounds a bit extreme. It just might work.
8 posted on 08/20/2003 5:31:01 AM PDT by new cruelty
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To: *balkans; dennisw; knighthawk
BIN LADEN "charities" ping

BMI Inc. was involved up to the neck in financing islamic terrorists in Bosnia.

9 posted on 08/20/2003 8:03:57 AM PDT by DTA
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