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U.S. puts hold on Palestinian charity's assets

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, May 6, 2005

The United States has moved to shut down a Palestinian charity said to relay funds to Islamic Jihad.

The Bush administration has ordered U.S. banks to block any accounts or financial assets of Al Ihsan Society. The administration decision bans Americans from donating to the group, also known as the Elehssan Society.

Officials said Al Ihsan has served as a front for the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad

Jihad has carried out a large portion of Palestinian suicide bombings against civilians in Israel, Middle East Newsline reported.

"Elehssan masquerades as a charity, while actually helping to finance Palestinian Islamic Jihad's acts of terror against the Israel people and other innocents," Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey said.

The Treasury said Al Ihsan provided money to the families of Jihad operatives in Israeli prisons as well as to families of insurgents killed in attacks on the Jewish state. Al Ihsan was said to possess a list of families of suicide bombers designated to receive funds.

Officials said Al Ihsan has used the Internet to solicit funds and recruit members. They did not provide an estimate of how much money was raised or the number of people recruited.

But they said that at one point Al Ihsan received hundreds of thousands of dollars for distribution to Palestinian insurgents. In one case, they said, Treasury recorded a financial transfer of $900 to the family of a Jihad suicide bomber.

"Information available to the U.S. shows that to move money, select PIJ [Palestinian Islamic Jihad] members serve as links between PIJ headquarters and members in the Palestinian territories," Treasury said in a statement.

"In mid-2002, Elehssan received hundreds of thousands of dollars from abroad that were deposited into accounts in the West Bank."

Al Ihsan has headquarters in Gaza City. It has branches in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah and Tulkaram, as well as in Lebanon.

Officials said Islamic Jihad was based in the Syrian capital of Damascus and from there controlled all operatives and members in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They said the leader of Al Ihsan has played a major role in Jihad's financial council and coordinated with the insurgency group's chief, Ramadan Shallah, on operational issues.

In February 2003, a U.S. District Court in Florida handed down a 53-count indictment that charged Al Ihsan with serving as the fundraising arm of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The indictment said Al Ihsan sought to facilitate the killing of civilians as well as extortion, money laundering, fraud and misuse of visas.

The Palestinian Authority closed several Jihad and Al Ihsan offices in 2002, officials said. Despite the PA move, Jihad continued to relay funds to Al Ihsan in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The Treasury statement said Jihad employed Al Ihsan to recruit operatives. In 2003, the statement said, Al Ihsan planned to open a youth center for Jihad recruitment and training.

Jihad also relayed funds to operate a summer camp in the West Bank in an effort to recruit suicide bombers. The Jihad camp, Treasury said, was meant to emphasize "culture, Islam and fun, with a marginal political dimension."


Copyright © 2005 East West Services, Inc.

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