Saudis target Islamic charities...........

[Thinkerman]

By Mark Forbes

Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Riyadh

 

 

 

 

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

 

 

 

Saudi Arabia has halted the unregulated supply of all funds to Islamic charities overseas, believing the money could be funding terrorism. Strict controls will now be placed on the distribution of the hundreds of millions its citizens donate to such charities each year.

 

Any funding to Islamic groups in Indonesia has been frozen indefinitely, following concerns that some of the groups were supporting terrorism.

 

The tough new guidelines were revealed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in talks with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

 

The US has identified Saudi Arabian charities as a major source of funds for al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiah and other terrorist networks and urged this flow be halted.

 

All Saudi Arabian donations to Islamic groups overseas will have to pass through a new Swiss organisation that is transparent and auditable.

 

 

Donations would only be distributed to organisations approved by the governments of the countries where they were based, Prince Saud told the meeting.

 

He said he was concerned about the use of funds by Islamic charities in Indonesia.

 

He said the funding of fundamentalist schools was very dangerous, as some had "brainwashed" students and turned them into terrorists.

 

Funds were still reaching terrorists from other countries, Prince Saud said, with Saudi dissidents pretending to be refugees collecting funds for al-Qaeda.

 

However, Prince Saud told Mr Downer the May 12 bombings in Riyadh were Saudi Arabia's "September 11" and had galvanised the population against al-Qaeda.

 

A report commissioned by the UN Security Council estimates that Saudi Arabia has transferred $800 million to al-Qaeda over the past decade.

 

Mr Downer said funds were flowing to al-Qaeda through Islamic charities from Saudi Arabia.

 

"Money put into charities financing Islamic boarding schools, including in Indonesia, is finishing up financing terrorist capabilities," Mr Downer said.

 

Indonesian and Australian authorities have identified Islamic charities and schools that supported Jemaah Islamiah and played a key role in the Bali bombings. Several men on trial for the bombings were based at an Islamic school in Java.

[MD]

Hey shukran shujui-1 for the interesting article, we all know saudi's are the puppets of the united states

[StarGazer]

Saudis never cared about those muslim charity groups to begin with, hell they don't even care about the non-Saudi muslims that live in their soil. They get treated like second class citizens while the Westerns are treated with so much respect...enough to make u sick!. But as far as they're concerned I was never born there , otherwise I woulda had my citizenship! :mad: :rolleyes:

[Thinkerman]

It is amazing isnt it. They americans need only apply pressure through a few chosen words to get the desired effect, whilst they do not care to address the real issues @ hand that have resulted in the events of the last few weeks.

 

But then we shouldnt be supprised they are indeed puppets, who have grown richer and fatter of the oil. whislt the rest of the muslims suffer world wide from poverty and pursecution.

[Thinkerman]

Al-Haramain’s Closure to Hit Thousands in Somalia

Salad F. Duhul & Agencies

 

 

JEDDAH, 24 May 2003 — Somali Consul General Muhammad Elmi Omer on Thursday expressed concern over the closure of the Riyadh-based Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation’s office in Somalia. The charity, which the United States suspects of having links to terrorist groups, said in statement that it had decided to shut three of its offices abroad. The Islamic agency closed its doors in Somalia on Saturday after the Saudi government ordered its international staff to leave the country, Nur Alasow a Somali employee of the agency told the IRIN news agency.

 

“I am deeply shocked by the news of the closure of Al-Haramain’s office in Somalia,” Omer told Arab News. “The Foundation has continued to be the only lifeline for the Somali people despite the lack of a functioning government. In a country with no effective government, no formal education system and health care, aid agencies are essential for ordinary people’s social and economic well-being. The absence of these charities directly affects the very survival of many Somalis,” he added.

 

Al-Haramain began its Somali activities in wake of the civil war in 1992. The organization ran a total of eight orphanages — five of them in capital Mogadishu — housing about 3,500 children throughout the country. The other orphanages were in Merka in southern Somalia, and Burao and Hargaisa in the northern region of breakaway Somaliland. It also financed over 100 schools and distributed thousands of tons of foodstuffs annually.

 

“Since the collapse of Somali government, Arab and Islamic aid agencies have focused on providing humanitarian assistance to the needy people in the country,” Omer said. “The Al-Haramain foundation has been one of the largest aid groups in Somalia.”

 

He added that the aid agencies had invested in a series of important welfare projects including the renovation of schools and the payment of salaries for health personnel and schoolteachers. The consul general said the Western allegations that Islamic charities funded local Al-Qaeda cells in Somalia were based on misconceptions about the realities in the country. “The Western countries should study the realities in Somalia. Any misconception can only exacerbate the poor conditions in the country.”

 

The consul general urged the international community to support the present peace talks in Kenya. “What Somalis need is to restore law and order and pacify their country. I urge all concerned parties to revise the decision to close the foundation,” he added.

 

Al-Haramain raises almost $30 million a year in donations for charity work across the world. The foundation’s General Manager Sheikh Aqeel Al-Aqeel denied there was pressure from the US to close the offices. “The current situation necessitated a review of the organization’s geographical spread. There has been no pressure from the American authorities to close the offices in those places. There were some indirect reasons behind the closure,” Al-Aqeel was quoted as saying in a statement.

 

Somali expatriates in the Kingdom expressed their concern at the decision to shut Al-Haramain office. Abdullahi Yakob, an executive of a Jeddah-based company, said: “Al-Haramain has contributed significantly to Somalia’s social services. My seven children in Mogadishu are enrolled in a primary school run by the charity. Before closing it down, the authorities should think what alternative sources there will be.”

 

Huriya Ibrahim, a mother of four children, said: “I am worried about the life of the children at orphanages. After the charity has left, who will take care of these children?”

 

Alasow earlier said that most of the orphans the agency cared for had lost one or both parents in the civil war. “We have no idea what we are going to do now,” he said. “We have enough supplies to last till the end of the month. After that it is up to Allah.”

[Nefertiti]

Well a very interesting article, Shujui-1, thank you for bringing it to our attention.

 

America has the worst human rights policy, however much they try and portray them selves otherwise. This is quite obvious by the amount of hatred, misconduct and complaints that can be unearthed if one scratches just beneath the surface.

 

The US hatred towards Islam is majorily caused by the great influence and presence of the Jews in their government.

 

The Jews 'settlement' in the US is soo strong that this ethnic minority can 'move and shake' bounderies. The war on Iraq for example -with the "elimination of weapons of mass destruction" theme (and the issue of the counteries resources i.e. oil), was I believe one of Israel's and its followers conspiracy, the endless killings and the unauthorised residency of Arab-Palastian ground, an another. This latter is happening underneath American so called peacekeepers/makers and no one from their office is bothered to stop this because it does not provoke interest amongst those evil figures who are allowing these atrocities to be carried out in the first place.

 

The leaders of America are gravely misguided, and if they do not take a serious look through their policy, many more of these same atrocities will be commited. The rising of an Anti American state is not a desirable phenomena, to say the least. But the signs are pointing in that direction, due to all the hostility amongst the Islamic World and the West that America is stirring up.

 

Bush: the "Terrorist Slayer"...May Allah protect us from his evil grip and harmful ways...Amiin

 

~QoxootiMammi~

[Thinkerman]

I know Q-m It is not a supprise that they (americans) would want to do what tehy do it is in there interest to do whe should be supprised about it at all. What is so disheartning is to see countries/kingdoms such as saudi arabia crow to there demands such a humilation.

 

and it seems there influence doesnt stop there even if the suadi's try to claim otherwise.

 

Ministry Fires 353 Imams, Muezzins