| For Immediate Release Nov 5, 2001 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
Judicial Watch Had Complained In September to IRS About �Charities� Linked to Terrorist Groups But Asset Seizure is Next Needed Step (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, continued to raise concerns today about the operation of certain Islamic non-profit organizations in the U.S. which have been linked in press reports to Middle East terrorist groups, including Osama Bin Laden�s Al Qaeda terrorist network. On September 20, 2001, Judicial Watch complained to the IRS about 16 non-profit entities and 4 for-profit entities which were reportedly linked financially to the bin Laden network and/or the vicious terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Reports in recent days indicate the Bush Administration may finally be paying attention to concerns about these groups. Last Friday, the Administration added Hamas and Hezbollah to the list of terrorist groups whose assets can be easily frozen and U.S. News & World Report and The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend that two of the alleged �front� groups Judicial Watch complained about are under investigation by the Treasury Department. One of the groups about which Judicial Watch complained, the Islamic African Relief Agency, reportedly has ties to the terrorist government of Sudan and to an individual who supplied the cell phone Osama bin Laden used to orchestrate the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. Judicial Watch has also learned that the Islamic African Relief Agency reportedly transferred money to Mercy International, another �front� non-profit group. It was Mercy International which reportedly purchased the vehicles used by bin Laden to bomb U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 8, 1998. Though now under investigation by the Treasury Department, the organization, based in Columbia Missouri, still operates freely. �It is quite apparent that U.S. charitable dollars have been misused to finance international terrorism and the likes of Osama bin Laden. Given the numerous ties of the Islamic African Relief Agency and other non-profit front groups to terrorism, Judicial Watch does not understand what is holding up law enforcement action against them. Asset seizures must begin immediately, before it is too late,� state Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. | |