U.S. TREASURY DESIGNATES TWO INDIVIDUALS WITH
TIES TO AL QAIDA, UBL
Regulatory Intelligence Data - December 21, 2004
U.S. Treasury Designates Two Individuals with Ties to al Qaida, UBL Former BIF
Leader and al-Qaida Associate Named Under E.O. 13224 The U.S Department of the
Treasury today announced the designation of Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee and Saad
Rashed Mohammad al-Faqih for providing financial and material support to al
Qaida and Usama bin Laden (UBL). The U.S. is submitting both names to the United
Nations 1267 Committee, which will consider adding them to the consolidated list
of terrorists tied to al Qaida, UBL and the Taliban. Batterjee and al-Faqih are
not linked to each other. Today's action was taken pursuant to Executive Order
13224. The United States has now designated 396 individuals and entities as
terrorists, their financiers or facilitators since September 2001. In addition,
the global community has frozen over $ 144 million in terrorist-related assets.
Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee served as the Executive Director and a member of the
Board of Directors of Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), which was
designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the Treasury in
November 2002 for its support to al Qaida and UBL. "Adel Batterjee has ranked as
one of the world's foremost terrorist financiers, who employed his private
wealth and a network of charitable fronts to bankroll the murderous agenda of al
Qaida. A worldwide asset freeze, including in his home country of Saudi Arabia,
will deal a serious blow to this key terrorist facilitator," said Stuart Levey,
Treasury's Under Secretary for the Office of Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence (TFI). In the late 1980s, Batterjee founded the precursor to BIF,
Lajnat al-Birr al-Islamiah (LBI), in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. LBI provided
financial and operational support to mujahideen elements in Afghanistan and
around the world, including fighters associated with UBL and Gulbuddin Hekmatyer,
who was named a SDGT by the Treasury on February 18, 2003. LBI was affiliated
with Maktab Al-Khidamat (MK), which was co-founded and financed by UBL and is
the precursor organization of al Qaida. LBI later joined al Qaida upon the
dissolution of MK. In the early 1990s, LBI began operating under the name
Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) in an effort to widen its appeal to
the general public and increase its credibility with other governments. BIF and
LBI remained one organization with interchangeable assets under Batterjee's
control. In 1993, Batterjee incorporated BIF in the United States, where it also
provided financial and operational support to mujahideen fighters worldwide,
including members of al Qaida in Afghanistan, the Sudan, Bosnia- Herzegovina and
Chechnya. At one point, UBL confirmed to an associate that BIF was one of the
non-governmental organizations providing funds to al Qaida. According to
information available to the U.S. Government, it was around that time that a BIF
employee in the Sudan traveled to Saudi Arabia attempting to meet Batterjee.
Instead, the employee reported he was detained and questioned by Saudi
authorities regarding BIF links to UBL. Once released, he returned to the Sudan
where he met with UBL and informed him of his detainment. As a result, BIF
operations were curtailed for a period of time. Batterjee subsequently resigned
as Director of BIF and personally selected UBL confidant Enaam Arnaout to serve
as the organization's head. Documents obtained by the U.S. Government
demonstrate that Arnaout, while employed with LBI and BIF, worked with members
of al Qaida to procure weapons for use in al Qaida training camps. While
employed by Batterjee at LBI, Arnaout reported directly to Batterjee, which was
outside the usual chain of command. Batterjee remained active in BIF despite
having officially resigned as Director. Evidence shows that Arnaout made an
effort to conceal Batterjee's continued involvement in BIF. In 2002, when
Arnaout learned that U.S. authorities were scrutinizing BIF's activities, he
warned Batterjee through an intermediary against transferring funds to any BIF
offices. Evidence of BIF's ties to al Qaida surfaced in March 2002 searches by
Bosnian authorities of the organization's Sarajevo offices. These searches
uncovered numerous handwritten documents detailing the origin and history of the
al Qaida organization. Among the recovered files was a copy of a 1988
handwritten draft listing wealthy financiers of UBL's mujahideen operations in
Afghanistan, referred to within al Qaida as the "Golden Chain." This list
contains 20 names with a parenthetical after each name, likely indicating the
person who received funds from the specified donor. "Usama" appears after seven
of the listings and "Baterji" appears after an additional six listings. Also
uncovered from the Bosnian raid were photographs of Arnaout with UBL and an
administrative diagram of UBL's close associates, along with cover names and
assignments within al Qaida of mujahideen trained in Afghanistan. In October
2002, Arnaout was indicted in the United States for operating BIF as a
racketeering enterprise and providing material support to organizations,
including al Qaida, that are engaged in violent activities. Batterjee was named
as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the indictment. On February 10, 2003,
Arnaout pled guilty to criminal racketeering conspiracy for diverting BIF funds
to pay for supplies to armed jihadists in Bosnia and Chechnya.
Identifying Information ADEL ABDUL JALIL BATTERJEE AKAs: Adel Abdul Jalil
Batarjee Adil Al-Battarjee Adel Batterjee Adil Abd al Jalil Batarji
DOB: July 1, 1946 POB: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Nationality: Saudi Arabian Address:
2 Helmi Kutbi Street, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Saad Rashed Mohammad al-Faqih has
maintained associations with the al Qaida network since the mid-1990s, including
an individual associated with the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings. Al-Faqih
has had contact with both UBL and Khaled al Fawwaz, who acted as UBL's de facto
representative in the U.K. According to information available to the U.S.
Government, al-Faqih and al Fawwaz shared an office in the late 1990s, and al-Faqih
worked with and provided assistance to al Fawwaz, who served as the intermediary
between UBL and al-Faqih. Following the 1998 East African embassy bombings, al
Fawwaz was arrested in the United Kingdom under an extradition request from the
United States. At the U.S. trial of the East African embassy bombers,
prosecutors provided evidence that al-Faqih paid for a satellite phone that al
Fawwaz passed on to UBL, who allegedly used it to help carry out the attacks.
According to information available to the U.S. Government, al-Faqih was also
associated with al Qaida member and fugitive Abu Musab al-Suri, a.k.a. Mustafa
Nasar Al-Faqih is head of the non-governmental organization Movement for Islamic
Reform in Arabia (MIRA). Extremists utilize a website controlled by al- Faqih
and MIRA to post al Qaida-related statements and images. While MIRA has issued
disclaimers warning users to not attribute postings on MIRA message boards to al
Qaida, information available to the U.S. and UK Governments shows that the
messages are intended to provide ideological and financial support to al-Qaida
affiliated networks and potential recruits. AQ-affiliated author, Lewis
Attiyatullah, whose statements have been published on MIRA's website, has been
directly associated with Al-Faqih for several years. Identifier Information SAAD
RASHED MOHAMMAD AL-FAQIH AKAs: Sa'd AL-FAQIH Sa'ad AL-FAQIH Saad ALFAGIH Sa'd
AL-FAQI Saad AL FAQIH Saad AL-FAGIH Saad AL-FAKIH Abu Uthman DOB: February 1,
1957 POB: Zubair, Iraq Nationality: Saudi Arabian Address: London, UK Batterjee
and al-Faqih were designated today pursuant to Executive Order 13224 chiefly
pursuant to paragraphs (d)(i) and (d)(ii) based on a determination that they
assist in, sponsor or provide financial, material, or technological support for,
or financial or other services to or in support of, or are otherwise associated
with, persons listed as subject to E.O. 13224. The individuals also meet the
standard for inclusion in the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee's consolidated list
because of the support provided to UBL, al Qaida or the Taliban. Inclusion on
the 1267 Committee's list triggers international obligations on all member
countries, requiring them to freeze the assets and prevent the travel of listed
individuals and to block the sale of arms and military equipment. Publicly
identifying these supporters of terrorism is a critical part of the
international campaign to counter terrorism. Additionally, other organizations
and individuals are put on notice that they are prohibited from doing business
with them. Blocking actions are critical to combating the financing of
terrorism. When an action is put into place, any assets existing in the formal
financial system at the time of the order are to be frozen. Blocking actions
serve additional functions as well, acting as a deterrent for non-designated
parties who might otherwise be willing to finance terrorist activity; exposing
terrorist financing "money trails" that may generate leads to previously unknown
terrorist cells and financiers, disrupting terrorist financing networks by
encouraging designated terrorist supporters to disassociate themselves from
terrorist activity and renounce their affiliation with terrorist groups;
terminating terrorist cash flows by shutting down the pipelines used to move
terrorist-related assets; forcing terrorists to use alternative, more costly and
higher-risk means of financing their activities; and engendering international
cooperation and compliance with obligations under UN Security Council
Resolutions.
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