Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: September 26, 2001
Amidst the burst of anger against
Osama bin Laden and his terror network, President George Bush has taken
an important step in the global war on terrorism by deciding to freeze
the assets and bank accounts of 27 persons and organisations suspected
of financing terrorists. If taken to its logical conclusion, the decision
could prove to be more effective in eliminating networks like Al Qaida's
than a military offensive. Terrorist organisations flourish on funds and
weapons and will run for cover or surrender if the flow of both stops.
This is easier said than done, though. A large chunk of the money comes
from legitimate governments. Ironically, the case of Osama bin Laden and
Taliban, it is the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that had been pumping
in more than $600 million a year, for 10 years, for buying weapons and
setting up bunkers and various associated networks. The funds were channelled
through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The latter, even
before the Americans left Afghanistan following the Soviet withdrawal in
1989, began raising and funding terrorist organisations to create trouble
in Kashmir. It is no secret today that Kashmir terrorists are financed
overtly by the ISI. There are quite a few similar examples. For instance,
the three groups-Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad-that have been left
out of President Bush's freeze order, are funded by their respective countries,
who are being persuaded to join the fight against terrorism.
The other difficulty lies in unravelling
down the intricate web of financial manipulations these organisations indulge
in to camouflage their source of funding. Al Qaida, for instance, has innumerable
sources of funds, both institutional and personal. Bin laden has invested
most of his $300 million in a variety of commercial enterprises and infrastructure
projects, all very legitimate. His construction company, el-Hijrah for
Construction and Development Ltd., a firm which has the National Islamic
Front (NIF) and the Sudanese military, as partners, has built the new airport
at Port Sudan and a 1200-mile long highway linking Khartoum to Port Sudan.
As a part payment, the Sudanese government has made bin Laden the owner
of Khartoum Tannery. Besides, Al Qaida runs several farms in Sudan, raising
peanuts to sunflowers. But this is only a tiny part of bin Laden's financial
empire. Most of his funds are now in secret financial and commercial enterprises
in Europe and the Middle East.
Funds to organisations like Al Qaida
are also routed through charitable and relief organisations and personal
donations. Saudi Arabia doles out $10 billion every year to Islamic organisations
for charity and religious work, a sizeable amount of which finds its way
to Al Qaida and similar organisations espousing the cause of Islam. The
enormity of the task at hand is clear from the size of the financial empire
that sustains just one terrorist organisation. There are multitudes of
these-like the LTTE-that are not so secretive about collecting money to
subvert legitimate governments. Most of them operate freely from the US
soil. They must be stopped forthwith. If the global war on terrorism has
to succeed, and succeed it must for world peace, then it needs to go beyond
immediate American objectives.
