Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2001
Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
Copyright: 2001 St. Paul Pioneer Press
Contact:  http://www.pioneerplanet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/379
Author: Sharon Theimer

WEAPON, DRUG TRAFFICKING SEEN AS KEY TO BIN LADEN FINANCES

WASHINGTON -- Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network raise money through 
a variety of legitimate and illegal sources, ranging from charities, 
business enterprises and wealthy supporters to illegal drug and weapons 
trafficking, the U.S. government believes.

Investigators and experts believe members of bin Laden's al-Qaida network 
make money any way they can to support the cause.

There are strong signs al-Qaida has profited handsomely from the opium 
trade, with fighters used as smugglers and to protect smugglers, said Sen. 
John Kerry, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Al-Qaida's part in drug trafficking likely continued at least until 
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban cracked down on opium production last year, 
Kerry said. Opinion varies on the extent of the crackdown.

Jonathan Winer, deputy assistant secretary of state for international 
enforcement in the Clinton administration, said those who deal in drugs 
usually also traffic in guns, although the extent to which bin Laden is 
profiting from the gun trade is unknown.

The world is awash in light weapons, making their sale less profitable, 
Winer said. The question then becomes whether bin Laden is trafficking in 
higher-powered weapons, he said.

A task force pursuing terrorist finances will go beyond al-Qaida, Deputy 
Assistant Treasury Secretary Rob Nichols said.

"Our mission is threefold: one, deny terrorist groups access to the 
international financial system; two, impair the ability of terrorists to 
raise funds; and three, expose, isolate and incapacitate the financial 
holdings of terrorists," Nichols said.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the government is investigating 
whether terrorists tried to profit from stock and options trading before 
the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings, though tracing such transactions to people 
behind the hijackings could be very difficult.

The U.S. believes bin Laden is tapping several sources of finance, but not 
his own fortune. It is considered unlikely that whatever is left of an 
estimated $300 million he inherited from his family is being used for 
al-Qaida's activities.

Instead, government officials believe he is drawing much of his cash from 
charities and wealthy individuals, including some in the United States.

The government believes all the money raised here is sent abroad.

How it gets there is a key part of the investigation. Islamic charities, as 
religious organizations, do not have to disclose the sources or 
destinations of their fund raising.

Chechnya is another likely source of money, said Yuri Shvets, a former 
Russian intelligence officer now with the Centre for Counterintelligence 
and Security Studies in suburban Washington.

Chechen guerrillas, who consider bin Laden their patron and count one of 
his lieutenants among their leaders, traffic in drugs and weapons, and sold 
an arsenal of Soviet arms they found in Chechen territory, he said.
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