Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (95764)	4/23/2003 12:54:17 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 281500

'Arrested' Jordanian at centre of allegations By Jimmy Burns Published: April 22 2003 22:05 \| Last Updated: April 22 2003 22:05 Fawaz Zureikat, the Jordanian at the centre of allegations against George Galloway (pictured), was reportedly arrested in Amman last month as part of a security sweep of pro-Saddam Hussein activists. According to information emanating from the Jordanian capital, Mr Zureikat was held by Dairat al Mukhabarat, the country's central intelligence department, which investigates illegal organisations. He was reportedly arrested after documents relating to his business activities and political activities were seized in an earlier raid. Mr Zureikat was the Jordanian chairman of the Mariam Appeal, a fund-raising vehicle set up by Mr Galloway in 1998. It originally had the declared aim of raising funds for Mariam Hamza, a four-rear-old Iraqi girl suffering from leukaemia, but became part of a broader campaign to lift sanctions against Iraq. In June 2000, Mr Galloway helped to set up and became chairman of a sister organisation called the Great Britain Iraq Society, which shared its administration and funds with the Mariam Appeal. The latest register of members' interests in the House of Commons lists several trips made by Mr Galloway between October 2001 and May 2001 to Baghdad, Amman, and Rabat, paid for either by the Mariam Appeal - described as "an organisation working for the lifting of the embargo on Iraq" - or the Great Britain Iraq Society. There was also a separate trip to Abu Dhabi, paid for by the government of the United Arab Emirates, which, according to Middle East sources in London, was one of the main sponsors of the Mariam Appeal. At its launch in the grand committee room in the Commons, the GBIS promised to "circulate a newsletter, publish material, exchange visits, organise events, trade missions, religious and other tourism and strive to restore the formerly friendly relationship between Great Britain and Iraq". One of the campaigns launched from its address in Southwark, London - ostensibly to forward books, periodicals and CDs to Iraq banned under the United Nations sanctions regime - was done so jointly with the National Mobilisation Committee for the Defence of Iraq, a pro-Saddam Jordanian lobby organisation based in Amman in which Mr Zureikat was a leading fundraiser. The NMCDI organised rallies opposed to the US/UK military action. The Mariam Appeal and the Great Britain Iraq Society are not registered charities and, therefore, their accounts are not disclosed. Mr Galloway said earlier this week that Mr Zureikat was one of three m ain funders of the Mariam Appeal, together with the governments of the UAE and Saudi Arabia. He estimated its total funding over five years at £1m. He added that neither he nor his Palestinian wife, Dr Amineh Abu Zaid, benefited from the fund, which was now wound up. He described Mr Zureikat as a wealthy businessman whom he had met through his wife. news.ft.com