APFN
Bin Laden 'received UN cash'
Sun Oct 21 12:43:07 2001


Saturday, 20 October, 2001, 15:07 GMT 16:07 UK
Bin Laden 'received UN cash'

Charities worldwide responded to the Sudan's famine
A BBC investigation has revealed that the
United Nations funded the work of a charity
believed by the United States to be a front
organisation for Osama Bin Laden.

The UN donated more than $1.4m to a
consortium of charities working in the Sudan in
1997, one of which was the Muwafaq (Arabic:
blessed relief) Foundation.

The US Treasury believes wealthy businessman
Yasin al-Qadi set up the charity.

In a crackdown following the 11 September
plane attacks on the US, Mr al-Qadi's assets
were among those frozen by the Treasury for
alleged links with terrorism.

'Charities vulnerable'

According to Treasury officials, the charity
was used by wealthy Saudi businessmen to
transfer millions of dollars to Bin Laden.

Bin Laden is the number one suspect for the 11
September attacks.

But Mr al-Qadi has
denied any connection
with terrorism and has
instructed his lawyers in
the US and Britain to
work to clear his name.

His London lawyers,
Peter Carter Ruck, said:
"Our client is horrified
and shocked that his
name has been included
in this (Treasury) list."

If the US allegation is true, it will underline the
vulnerability of many charities to militant
influence, but also jolt the reputation of the
UN.

Charles Shoebridge, a former British
anti-terrorist intelligence officer, believes that
it is easy for terrorists to infiltrate charities, if
not set them up themselves from the outset.

"For over a decade the government has been
aware that a number of refugee support
groups, relief organisations and charities do
act, in fact, as fronts for the raising of finance
for terrorist organisations," he told the BBC.

"They appear to be ordinary, credible
charities."

'UN duped'

An investigation by Angus Stickler of the BBC's
Today programme, shows that the UN donated
money to Muwafaq to "promote educational
and social development programmes" in Sudan.

The UN, Mr Shoebridge believes, should be
ideally placed to judge the credentials of the
charities it supports with public money.

"You would have
thought that an
organisation like the UN
would have access to a
certain amount of
information from its
constituent members'
intelligence services,"
he said.

If the US Treasury is
right about "Blessed
Relief", it is a serious
blow to the UN's reputation.

"The fact that the UN has been so easily
duped will no doubt cause great unease within
the international community," says the BBC's
correspondent.

"Not only would it have allowed terrorists to
masquerade under a cloak of decency - it
actually provided hard cash with which they
could fund their cause."
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 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror  /  

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