Pubdate: Tue, 03 Sep 2002
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2002 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: Douglas Farah, Washington Post Service

TALIBAN ALLEGEDLY SHIPPING GOLD

Financial officers of al Qaeda and the Taliban have quietly shipped large 
quantities of gold out of Pakistan to Sudan in recent weeks, transiting 
through the United Arab Emirates and Iran, according to European, Pakistani 
and U.S. investigators.

The sources said several shipments of boxes of gold, usually disguised as 
other products, were taken by boat from the Pakistani port of Karachi to 
either Iran or Dubai, and from there mixed with other goods and flown by 
chartered airplanes to Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

Although it is unclear how much gold has been moved, U.S. and European 
officials said the quantity was significant and was an important indicator 
that al Qaeda and members of Afghanistan's deposed Taliban militia still 
have access to large financial reserves.

European and U.S. intelligence officials said the movement of gold also 
highlighted three significant developments in the war on terrorism: the 
growing role of Iranian intelligence units allied with the country's 
hard-line clerics in protecting and aiding al Qaeda, the potential 
reemergence of Sudan as a financial center for the organization, and the 
ability of the terrorist group to generate new sources of revenue despite 
the global crackdown on its finances.

The intelligence sources said Sudan may have been chosen because Osama bin 
Laden, the Saudi-born al Qaeda leader, and other members of the network are 
familiar with the country and retain business contacts there. They said 
traditional havens for al Qaeda money on the Arabian peninsula such as 
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates were under intense international 
scrutiny, while transactions in Sudan could more easily pass unnoticed.

Gold has for years been the preferred financial instrument of the Taliban 
and al Qaeda. Most of the Taliban treasury was kept in gold when the 
militia ruled Afghanistan, and taxes were often collected in gold. Just 
before the Taliban and al Qaeda were driven from Afghanistan last year, 
they shipped large amounts of gold to Dubai, and from there to other safe 
havens, the sources said.

European and U.S. sources said they became aware of the shipments after 
they occurred, and have asked the Sudanese government to take measures to 
halt the flow.

A spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in Washington said he had no official 
information about the shipments and found the information ``hard to believe.''

''Sudan is not going to allow anything like this to come in knowingly,'' 
the official said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart