[iwar] [fc:Pakistan.joins.US.crackdown.on.finances.of.groups.linked.to.terrorism]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-09-26 07:33:44

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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 07:33:44 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Pakistan.joins.US.crackdown.on.finances.of.groups.linked.to.terrorism]
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Pakistan joins US crackdown on finances of groups linked to terrorism

ISLAMABAD, Sept 26 (AFP) -

Pakistan's central bank Wednesday ordered a freeze on the bank accounts
of all the individuals and organisations included on a terrorism
blacklist made public by the United States. 

The order from the State Bank, binding on banks on pain of losing their
operating licences, will have a direct impact on at least two
Pakistan-based organisations: Harakat ul-Mujahedin, a militant group
fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, and the Karachi-based Al Rashid Trust. 

Both groups operate legally in Pakistan.  They were named on a list of
27 individuals or groups identified as being linked to terrorism by US
President George W.  Bush on Monday. 

In an executive order, Bush ordered a freeze on the assets of all the
individuals and organisations and instructed authorities to freeze the
US assets of any foreign banks not complying with the order. 

Harakat ul-Mujahedin is a shadowy Muslim militant organization battling
Indian rule in Kashmir which has previously been linked to Saudi-born
Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, who is accused by Washington of
masterminding the September 11 terror attacks in the US. 

The group has claimed credit for a number of attacks on Indian troops in
the Himalayan state of Kashmir, where Muslim militants have been waging
a bloody campaign to end Indian rule over the country's only Muslim
majority state. 

The campaign enjoys wide support in Pakistan and Harakat is tolerated by
the authorities here. 

The Al Rashid Trust insists that its activities, which include providing
financial and legal support to jailed Islamic militants around the
world, are purely humanitarian. 

Spokesman Mohammad Abdullah confirmed that its bank had acted in line
with the orders from Islamabad.  "The bank informed us today that all
our accounts have been frozen until further notice on orders from
above," he told AFP. 

The trust's funds, which include both dollar and sterling accounts, are
kept with the Karachi-based Habib Bank Ltd.  which is not thought to
have any presence in the United States. 

Many Pakistani banks do however operate in the United States and the
central bank would have been aware of the risk of retaliation against
them if it had not attempted to ensure Pakistan complied with the US
order. 

"The full list issued by the United States has been passed on to every
bank in Pakistan with the direction that any accounts held in the name
of any of the organisations or individuals be frozen," a State Bank
spokesman told AFP. 

"This is binding on the banks."

It was not known what if any impact the central bank's move would have
on the Harakat. 

The group operates training camps in eastern Afghanistan and has signed
up to a 1998 edict issued by bin Laden which called on all Muslims to
kill Americans.  It has in the past received funding from Saudi Arabia
and other Gulf and Islamic states. 

The Al-Rashid Trust says its main activity is humanitarian work in
neighbouring Afghanistan but denies having anything to do with the
ruling Taliban militia, which has sheltered bin Laden since 1996. 

According to an advertisement published in its weekly "Dharb-i-Mumin"
last month, the trust's activities also include the provision of legal
and financial assistance to "jihadi (holy warrior) prisoners."

References to jihadi prisoners in Pakistan normally refer to Islamic
militants jailed by India in Kashmir. 

The trust also helps look after the families of militants who have died
fighting in Afghanistan, Chechnya or Kashmir and says it has also been
active in Kosovo and central Asian republics. 

Other activities include the financing of new mosques and madrassas, or
Islamic seminaries. 

Based in Karachi, the trust has grown rapidly in recent years and has
around 30 branches across Pakistan.  It is headed by a senior Islamic
cleric, Mufti Rashid Ahmed Shah. 

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