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GWOT Update: The Case Against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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Sparkie Arbuckle - 08:09am on 09/01/2008
Excerpts from In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001 pdf, decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Manhattan, on Aug. 14th. Quotes begin around page seven.
The complaints, which we accept as true… allege the facts set forth below.
The SHC (the Saudi High Commission for Relief to Bosnia and Herzegovina) was formed in 1993 by decree of King Fahd (who was then President of the Council of Ministers, the Kingdom’s highest governing body), apparently to support Bosnian Muslims displaced by civil war. The SHC acted as “a fully integrated component of al Qa[e]da’s logistical and financial support infrastructure.” In the early 1990s, al Qaeda fighters began infiltrating Bosnia disguised as SHC relief workers. The SHC has funneled millions of dollars to al Qaeda, evidenced by investigators’ inability “to account for nearly $41 million” in SHC donations. In an October 2001 raid of the SHC’s Sarajevo offices, U.S. government officials found computer hard drives containing photos of the World Trade Center, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the U.S.S. Cole (all targets of terrorist attacks); documents about pesticides and crop dusters; photos and maps of Washington, D.C. (with prominent government buildings marked); and instructions for fabricating U.S. State Department badges. After the raid, the Bosnian Financial Police reported that peacekeeping forces “confiscated some documentation for which it can be claimed with certainty that it does not belong in the scope of work of a humanitarian organization.”
Ostensible charitable organizations, and in particular, Islamic charities under the control of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have played a singularly important role in al Qa[e]da’s development and pursuit of its perverse ambitions. These “charities” have served as the primary vehicle for raising, laundering and distributing funds on behalf of al Qa[e]da from its inception. In addition, these charities have provided arms, false travel documentation, physical assets and logistical support to al Qa[e]da.
The Kingdom contributed to the terrorist-linked charities described above and closely monitored their relief efforts abroad, with the express knowledge that those charities were funneling the Kingdom’s funds to al Qaeda. ...the Kingdom exercises complete oversight and control over the charities, making the charities alter-egos and agents whose deeds can be imputed to the Kingdom.
So, why isn't 'the Kingdom' listed by our State Dept for bankrolling terrorism?
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