Al Qaeda's dollar pipeline takes some strange twists
Following the Money
In the past decade, according to Ahmed Huber, he has met operatives of Osama bin Laden several times at Islamic conferences around the world. But he describes as "ridiculous" U.S. charges that his Swiss-based company helped finance bin Laden's terrorism. "I am not a terrorist," says Huber, one of several men who serve on the management committee of Nada Management.
Last week, American officials said the company is part of Al Taqwa, a group of investment-management operations in Europe that, they say, have "acted as financial advisers" to bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist organization. In a move to cut off bin Laden's money pipeline, Washington and its European allies shut down offices and froze the assets of Al Taqwa and a second, much larger financial network, the Dubai-based Al Barakaat Group. The IRS closed eight Al Barakaat offices in the United States. Officials said the two financial networks operated in 40 countries. "Al Taqwa and Al Barakaat raise funds for al Qaeda," President Bush declared. "They manage, invest, and distribute those funds."
Treasury Department officials say Al Barakaat and Al Taqwa arranged weapons shipments for terrorists. Officials of both financial networks deny the allegations.
Strange bedfellows. Huber said in an interview that by targeting Al Taqwa and Al Barakaat, Washington is doing the bidding of "Jew Zionists" who now "rule America." A 74-year-old Holocaust denier and convert to Islam, Huber says Swiss authorities searched his house near Bern and questioned him last week. He told U.S. News that he was introduced to bin Laden activists during Islamic conferences in London, Beirut, and Brussels, the last time in either 1997 or 1998. Each time, he says, he learned only later about their ties to bin Laden. "I talked with them in conferences," Huber says, "but I never advised them."
Describing Nada Management as a small operation, Huber says it supports "a few million dollars" in development projects, mostly agriculture related, in the Third World. He says "interest-free loans from rich Muslims" provided much of its funding.
Now, in what will surely be music to the ears of U.S. authorities, Huber says Nada Management is hurting. "We are not in good shape," he says. "Some of our sponsors and people giving interest-free loans are not very happy."
This story appears in the November 19, 2001 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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