FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS December 21, 2004 U.S. Treasury Designates Two Individuals with The U.S Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee and Saad Rashed Mohammad al-Faqih for providing financial and material support to al Qaida and Usama bin Laden (UBL). The Today's action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224. The Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee served as the Executive Director and a member of the Board of Directors of Benevolence "Adel Batterjee has ranked as one of the world's foremost terrorist financiers, who employed his private wealth and a network of charitable fronts to bankroll the murderous agenda of al Qaida. A worldwide asset freeze, including in his home country of In the late 1980s, Batterjee founded the precursor to BIF, Lajnat al-Birr al-Islamiah (LBI), in In the early 1990s, LBI began operating under the name Benevolence In 1993, Batterjee incorporated BIF in the According to information available to the U.S. Government, it was around that time that a BIF employee in the Batterjee subsequently resigned as Director of BIF and personally selected UBL confidant Enaam Arnaout to serve as the organization's head. Documents obtained by the U.S. Government demonstrate that Arnaout, while employed with LBI and BIF, worked with members of al Qaida to procure weapons for use in al Qaida training camps. While employed by Batterjee at LBI, Arnaout reported directly to Batterjee, which was outside the usual chain of command. Batterjee remained active in BIF despite having officially resigned as Director. Evidence shows that Arnaout made an effort to conceal Batterjee's continued involvement in BIF. In 2002, when Arnaout learned that Evidence of BIF's ties to al Qaida surfaced in March 2002 searches by Bosnian authorities of the organization's This list contains 20 names with a parenthetical after each name, likely indicating the person who received funds from the specified donor. "Usama" appears after seven of the listings and "Baterji" appears after an additional six listings. Also uncovered from the Bosnian raid were photographs of Arnaout with UBL and an administrative diagram of UBL's close associates, along with cover names and assignments within al Qaida of mujahideen trained in In October 2002, Arnaout was indicted in the United States for operating BIF as a racketeering enterprise and providing material support to organizations, including al Qaida, that are engaged in violent activities. Batterjee was named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the indictment. On
Saad Rashed Mohammad al-Faqih has maintained associations with the al Qaida network since the mid-1990s, including an individual associated with the 1998 Al-Faqih has had contact with both UBL and Khaled al Fawwaz, who acted as UBL's de facto representative in the Following the 1998 East African embassy bombings, al Fawwaz was arrested in the According to information available to the U.S. Government, al-Faqih was also associated with al Qaida member and fugitive Abu Musab al-Suri, a.k.a. Mustafa Nasar Al-Faqih is head of the non-governmental organization Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA). Extremists utilize a website controlled by al-Faqih and MIRA to post al Qaida-related statements and images. While MIRA has issued disclaimers warning users to not attribute postings on MIRA message boards to al Qaida, information available to the U.S. and UK Governments shows that the messages are intended to provide ideological and financial support to al-Qaida affiliated networks and potential recruits. AQ-affiliated author, Lewis Attiyatullah, whose statements have been published on MIRA's website, has been directly associated with Al-Faqih for several years. Identifier Information DOB: February 1, 1957 Batterjee and al-Faqih were designated today pursuant to Executive Order 13224 chiefly pursuant to paragraphs (d)(i) and (d)(ii) based on a determination that they assist in, sponsor or provide financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, or are otherwise associated with, persons listed as subject to E.O. 13224. The individuals also meet the standard for inclusion in the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee's consolidated list because of the support provided to UBL, al Qaida or the Taliban. Inclusion on the 1267 Committee's list triggers international obligations on all member countries, requiring them to freeze the assets and prevent the travel of listed individuals and to block the sale of arms and military equipment. Publicly identifying these supporters of terrorism is a critical part of the international campaign to counter terrorism. Additionally, other organizations and individuals are put on notice that they are prohibited from doing business with them. Blocking actions are critical to combating the financing of terrorism. When an action is put into place, any assets existing in the formal financial system at the time of the order are to be frozen. Blocking actions serve additional functions as well, acting as a deterrent for non-designated parties who might otherwise be willing to finance terrorist activity; exposing terrorist financing "money trails" that may generate leads to previously unknown terrorist cells and financiers, disrupting terrorist financing networks by encouraging designated terrorist supporters to disassociate themselves from terrorist activity and renounce their affiliation with terrorist groups; terminating terrorist cash flows by shutting down the pipelines used to move terrorist-related assets; forcing terrorists to use alternative, more costly and higher-risk means of financing their activities; and engendering international cooperation and compliance with obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions.
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