01/15/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09647

BLOCKING TERRORIST FINANCING

The United States has blocked the financial assets of two more organizations and individuals involved in financing Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.

One is the so-called Afghan Support Committee, or A-S-C. The A-S-C was established several years ago by al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. The organization's finance chief, Abu Bakr Al-Jaziri, collected funds in Afghanistan and from Arab non-governmental organizations, claiming the money was for Afghan orphans and widows. Instead, the money went to al-Qaida operatives. In 2000, Al-Jaziri shifted the operation to Pakistan, where it continued to raise money and transfer funds to al-Qaida.

Two branches of the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, or R-I-H-S, in Afghanistan and Pakistan have also had their assets frozen. R-I-H-S is a Kuwaiti-based non-governmental organization. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is affiliated with the A-S-C. The Peshawar, Pakistan, office director for R-I-H-S is Abd al-Mushin Al-Libi, who also serves as the A-S-C manager there. Al-Libi has provided al-Qaida with facilities and has carried money and messages on behalf of Osama bin Laden.

The Pakistan R-I-H-S office defrauded donors to fund terrorism. To obtain additional funds from the R-I-H-S headquarters in Kuwait, the Pakistan office inflated the number of orphans it claimed to care for. The diverted funds went to al-Qaida terrorists.

Mr. Al-Jaziri and Mr. Al-Libi have also had their assets blocked. These individuals and organizations "have been stealing from widows and orphans to fund al-Qaida terrorism," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. "These bad actors will now be pariahs in the civilized world."

To date, the U.S. has named over one-hundred-sixty organizations and individuals as financiers of terrorism and has blocked more than thirty-four million dollars in assets. U.S. coalition partners have blocked more than thirty-three million dollars of terrorist-related assets.

"Shutting down terrorists' access to money centers is the key to preventing them from purchasing the tools of their evil," said Treasury Secretary O'Neill. "These are the choke points in the system, and they are the focus of our attention."