World>Terrorism & Security
posted December 22, 2004, updated 12:50 p.m.

Financial front intensifies in the war against terrorism

Tackling terror by freezing individual assets, filing private lawsuits, and earmarking federal monies to cities.

By Jim Bencivenga | csmonitor.com

As 2004 draws to a close, the financial front in the war against terrorism is seeing increased action, especially in the United States.

The US Treasury has identified Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee and Saad Rashed Mohammad al Faqih, both Saudi citizens, as having " provided material support to [Osama bin] Laden and his terrorist group Al Qaeda," reports the Hindustan Times.

The financial assets of both individuals were immediately frozen in the US and the US called on all UN member states to also freeze their assets worldwide.

The United States will submit both names to the United Nations 1267 Committee, which will consider them for inclusion in its list of terrorists linked to Laden.

Al Faqih, who advocates replacing the Saudi monarchy with a popularly elected government, heads the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia in London, says AP.

The US and Saudi Arabia claim Saudi businessman Mr. Batterjee was instrumental in founding the Benevolence International Foundation, an Islamic charity that the US "considers to be a terrorist group," says AP.

The Associate Press reports that inclusion on the UN list triggers sanctions that

Require all 191 UN member states to impose a travel ban and arms embargo against a list of those linked to the Taliban or Al Queda and to freeze their financial assets. The list has 318 individuals and 115 groups.

Currently visiting London, Mr. Faqih told AP that he "had no bank accounts in the United States, and only a personal checking account in Britain.

He claimed that the charges against him and Batterjee were trumped up by both the US and Saudi Arabia due to thier being Saudi dissidents, publicly challenging the Saudi regime.

The US Treasury alleges that extremists use Faqih's website "to post all Al Qaeda-related statements and images" and that "the messages are intended to provide ideological and financial support to Al Qaeda affiliated networks and potential recruits," says the Guardian.

The Treasury's move, as seen in the bigger context of the global war on terrorism, is both tactical and strategic, say analysts. It cuts off the flow of funds to specific terrorist organizations thereby hampering their effectivess, and it re-enforces the global responsibility of all nations in combating terrorist organizations.


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On another financial front, US victims of terrorist violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit on Tuesday accusing the Jordian based Arab Bank of supporting Palestinian suicide bombings, reports Reuters.

The private lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Brooklyn, NY, claims Arab Bank served as "paymaster" to families of suicide bombers and worked as the banker for a Saudi government-supported fund-raising campaign that has funneled more than $4 billion to Palestinian terrorist groups, reports Reuters.

A lawyer for Arab Bank in New York called the accusations " entirely false" and said the bank would never support terrorist organizations, reports The Jerusalem Post.

The bank "intends to defend itself most vigorously. This is an issue of principle and in the bank's eyes, matters of reputation are not subject to cash settlements," the Post quotes Reid Gerhart, a spokesman for the bank.

The lawsuit represents an escalation of the legal front being waged against terrorist organizatons say plaintiffs in the case, reports the Israeli daily Ha'aretz.

By alleging that money transfers by the bank violate US criminal and civil laws, it has the potential to seriously hamper terrorist organizations and their sponsors.

The plaintiffs claim that the bank illegally funneled dollars from various Islamic charitable foundations and others to known terrorist organizations and that the money transfers violate US criminal and civil laws, reports Ha'aretz.

Recipients of the financing allegedly included Hamas, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, say the plaintiffs. ...
The families claim that Arab Bank essentially laundered funds, transferring money to the families of suicide bombers as incentives and rewards for their participation in the murdering of Americans and Israelis in Israel and in the Palestinian territories...

The lawsuit ... seeks damages from the bank for providing "insurance" services to terrorists groups through accounts held directly in the name of Hamas and its many terrorist front groups.

And using the power of the federal budget to fight terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security, responded to repeated calls from big-city mayors by announcing on Wednesday that it will shift "a larger share of its annual $3.5 billion in antiterrorism grants to the nation's largest cities," reports The New York Times.

The move will allow cities "to accelerate purchases of equipment and training needed to better defend against - or at least rapidly respond to - an attack," reports the Times.

The decision by the Homeland Security Department to shift fiscal 2005 funding to cities means New York City will be the biggest beneficiary, reports the Times.

The city will receive $208 million compared to the $47 million it received in fiscal year 2004.

That should allow the city to buy more devices that can detect chemical, biological or other hazards, increase training for its police and firefighters and spend more money on an intelligence center where it analyzes possible terrorist threats.