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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve kammerer who wrote (6909)	3/16/2004 4:48:40 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

No I don't. The Jerusalem Post is not a state run newspaper. There is little difference in my opinion, between Saddam Hussein and Assad in Syria, other than the Iraqi was once a US surrogate. George Bush has nu patience for the likes of Assad and Arafat, which thankfully, brings the US into the real world, where terrorism is concerned.

To: steve kammerer who wrote (6909)	3/17/2004 12:42:32 PM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 32591

The Sources of Funding for the Hamas Terrorist Group The September 11 attacks increased international awareness to the issue of the financing of terror. It became clear that the execution of the Al-Qaeda attacks was made possible by financing that was supposedly intended for Islamic charity organizations. It transpired that the real danger lies not in laundered funds but from "legal" funds supposedly meant for charity organizations but in reality finance terror. As a result of the September 11 attacks, numerous so-called "charity organizations" have been declared illegal in many countries and the supervision of their bank accounts has been increased. How Terrorist Organizations Utilize Charity Funds for the Financing of Terror The answer - Daawa Daawa (literally meaning preaching) is the Muslim institution of charitable bodies for assisting the needy. Daawa relies on the concept of Zakkat (charity - one of the five pillars of Islam) and Sadaqat (donations). Zakkat requires giving a certain percentage of one's income to the needy. The Importance of Daawa in the Financing of Terror Daawa widens the public support for the terrorist organizations - by the donation of assistance to the needy, whilst giving preference to those who sympathize with the aims of the organizations. Schools that are sponsored by Daawa teach principles, such as Jihad (holy war) that are part and parcel of the ideology of the Islamic terrorist organizations. The terrorist organizations find jobs for their activists, within the framework of Daawa. The Daawa is utilized as a convenient tool for the flow of funds for terrorist activity. The Daawa System in Hamas Hamas possesses numerous charity institutions whose activities are mainly funded by Islamic charity organizations worldwide. The families of deceased terrorists or imprisoned Hamas activists receive significant assistance from Hamas through the Daawa, which allows them to continue to be involved in terrorist activities. The Daawa institutions of Hamas teach the principles of Jihad (holy war) and the Istishad (self-sacrifice) and by doing so, recruit new activists and suicide bombers to the movement. Hamas activists in Israel, imprisoned for having carried out terrorist activities are supported by the Daawa system. Hamas operational activists are predominantly employed in religious related jobs throughout the Daawa system. As a rule, charity institutions of the Hamas prefer to offer aid to Hamas activists over giving to the needy who are not terror activists, and in this way encourage the recruitment to the movement. The International Struggle against the Financing of Terror - the US Since the September 11 attacks, more than 300 people and organizations have been declared terrorists or supporters of terror in the US. Subsequently, assets to the amount of 136 million USD have been frozen worldwide by the US. As a result of the fatal bus attack in Jerusalem (August 2003) the US decided to freeze the assets of 4 Hamas fund raising organizations situated in Europe and Lebanon. Likewise, the US declared six senior Hamas leaders as terror activists whose assets must be frozen: Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Imad Elilmi, Usama Hamdan, Halad Mashal, Mussa Abu Marzuq and Abed Elaziz Rantisi. In addition, the US appealed to many countries to increase their struggle against the funding of terror. The US's appeal led to similar steps being taken by the EU countries as well as others including some Arab countries. The International Struggle against the Financing of Terror - the US (cont.) On the 25th September a written testimony of the General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury, David Aufhauser, described the steps implemented by the US in the "war" against terror financing: An Executive Order using the powers granted by the Congress through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act that raises the standards of conduct and due diligence of financial intermediaries, and explicitly targets underwriters of terror for the freezing of their assets; UN Security Council resolutions and conventions that internationalize asset freezes and mandate the criminalization of terrorist financing; More scrutiny at the gateway to US financial markets that has been provided under the USA PATRIOT Act; Law enforcement criminal investigations and foreign intelligence operations aimed at terrorist supporters and terrorist financiers; Extensive diplomatic efforts, including the engagement of central bankers and finance ministries, to champion the need and wisdom for international vigilance against terrorist financing and the taking of appropriate action to address it; Outreach to the private sector for assistance in the identification, location and apprehension of terrorists and their bankers: and, Bilateral and multilateral efforts to build laws and systems that will help terrorists from corrupting the financial system in developing countries around the globe, followed by training missions dispatched to those countries to help their officials administer those laws. The International Struggle Against the Financing of Terror - European Union The European Union adopted specific limitative steps against individuals and organizations in order to combat terror along with freezing their assets and operating against their infrastructure in Europe. All the different wings of Hamas have been added to the list of the Union's terrorist movements. Thereby the money of the movement in all 15 countries has been frozen. The declared policy of the European Union is that: money, financial assets or financial services will not be available directly or indirectly for the benefit of the mentioned people, movements or bodies. The International Struggle Against the Financing of Terror - Additional Countries (cont.) Beyond European Union member states, additional countries have frozen the financial assets of the Hamas in this context: Canada - declared it's intention to freeze all the assets of the Hamas under Canadian jurisdiction. Japan - announced that it will freeze the accounts of the Hamas and that it will inspect all money transfers which have any connection to the Hamas, Islamic Jihad or other movements. Norway - added the military wing of the Hamas to its list of terrorist movements. Australia - added Hamas to its list of terrorist movements, a step that enables the freezing of the movement's assets and the arrest of its activists. The International Struggle against the Financing of Terror - Arab Countries Some Arab countries have also adopted substantial steps against the financing of terror. These countries include: Saudi-Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon. Saudi-Arabia, for example, has since September 11th cooperated intensively with the United States in the fight against the financing of terror and especially of the financing of Hamas. Charity funds have been forbidden to raise money through charity boxes due to the fear that lack of inspection of the money raised in this manner could lead to the financing of terror. American specialists continue to assist Saudi Arabia to improve the inspection system in the country against the laundering of money. On August 18th a law banning the laundering of money was legislated ruling that all financial institutions must keep information about their activities for 10 years. The International Struggle against the Financing of Terror - Arab Countries (cont.) Following an American request to receive information on senior Hamas officials and 5 funds belonging to the movement: The Egyptian Central Bank turned to the banks in the country for the purpose of locating such accounts. The Kuwaiti Central Bank ordered the banks in the country to freeze such accounts in addition to the accounts related to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Jama'a Al-Islamiyya. The Jordanian Central Bank ordered to freeze such accounts. The Lebanese Central Bank ordered the banks in the country to examine the issue. The International Struggle against the Financing of Terror - The Palestinian Authority In August 2003 the Palestinian Authority declared the freezing of money of charity organizations identified with Hamas and declared that it would begin to distribute aid to the needy instead of these charities. This initiative was taken in order to reduce the heavy international pressure on the Palestinian Authority. In reality, the charity organizations, whose assets were supposedly frozen by the Palestinian Authority continued and still continue, to operate undisrupted and large quantities of money are transferred by them to terror activists and/or to family members. On 18th November 2003, Arafat ordered the release of the money of the Islamic Organizations which had been frozen. Therefore, the Palestinian Authority publicly cancelled the previous decision to freeze terror funds, a decision which in fact had not been implemented from the outset. Conclusion Since the September 11 attacks, the international awareness of the growing necessity to combat the origins and the mechanism of the financing of terror has increased. As a result of this, countries around the world, including some Arab states, have started to operate against the Islamic charity fundraising organizations and have begun to supervise the transfer of these organizations' bank funds. However, the Palestinian Authority continues to allow the Islamic Jihad and the Hamas to accept financial support through bank transfers. Improved international cooperation is necessary in order to prevent the accumulation and transfer of funds to the terror organizations.