B
Benevolence International Foundation
U.S. Designation Date: November 19, 2002
UN Designation Date: November 21, 2002 (Updated January 24, 2003)
Background: Benevolence International Foundation (BIF-USA), incorporated in the State of Illinois in 1992, was a U.S., tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization whose stated purpose was to conduct humanitarian relief projects throughout the world. BIF-USA’s financial accounts were blocked pending investigation in December 2001, and the charity was fully designated by the United States on November 19, 2002, and in the United Nations on November 21, 2002 The three closely linked but separately incorporated entities of BIF-USA, Benevolence International Fund (BIF-Canada), Bosanska Idealna Futura (BIF-Bosnia), and their branch offices were all designated simultaneously. BIF operated around the world in Bosnia, Chechnya, Pakistan, China, Ingushetia, Russia, and other nations.
Enaam Arnaout, BIF's Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, has been convicted in the United States for operating BIF as a racketeering enterprise. Arnaout claimed that he did not know bin Laden personally, yet substantial evidence documented the close relationship between Arnaout and Usama bin Laden, dating from the mid-1980s. An article in the Arab News from 1988, reporting on bin Laden’s activities at the "al Masada" mujahideen camp in Afghanistan, included a photograph of Arnaout and bin Laden walking together. In a March 2002 search of BIF's offices, Bosnian law enforcement authorities discovered a host of evidence linking Arnaout to bin Laden and al Qaida. Among the files were scanned letters between Arnaout and bin Laden, under their aliases. In one handwritten letter, bin Laden Indicated that Arnaout was authorized to sign on bin Laden’s behalf. A second letter from bin Laden to Arnaout discussed consulting Muhammad Atif regarding the establishment of a group of fighters. Atif, a bin Laden aid, was indicted for his role in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa, and was designated a supporter of terrorism under EO 13224 on September 23, 2001. Various documents also established that Arnaout worked with others -- including members of al Qaida -- to purchase rockets, mortars, rifles, and offensive and defensive bombs, and to distribute them to various mujahideen camps, including camps operated by al Qaida.
BIF also provided additional support for and has been linked in other ways to al Qaida and its operatives. First, BIF lent direct logistical support in 1998 to Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, a bin Laden lieutenant present at the founding of al Qaida. Salim has been indicted for conspiring to kill U.S. nationals. Testimony at the 2001 trial of United States v. Bin Laden, et al, implicated Salim in efforts to develop chemical weapons on behalf of al Qaida in the 1990s. As early as 1992, Salim and UBL made efforts to develop conventional weapons and to obtain nuclear weapons components. BIF was also linked to Mohamed Loay Bayazid, who was implicated in the U.S. embassy bombings trial for his efforts, approved by Salim, to obtain weapons components on behalf of UBL in 1993-1994. Bayazid's driver's license application, dated September 12, 1994, identified his address as the address of BIF's Illinois office. In the late 1990s, Saif al Islam el Masry, a member of al Qaida's majlis al shura (consultation council), served as an officer in BIF's Chechnya office.
AKA: Benevolent International Fund
For Additional Information: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/po3632.htm
Benevolence International Fund
U.S. Designation Date: November 19, 2002
UN Designation Date: November 21, 2002 (Updated January 24, 2003)
Background: See Benevolence International Foundation.
AKA: BIF
For Additional Information: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/po3632.htm
Bosanska Idealna Futura (BIF a/k/a)
U.S. Designation Date: November 19, 2002
UN Designation Date: November 21, 2002 (Updated January 24, 2003)
Background: See Benevolence International Foundation.
C
Commite de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens
Association de Secours Palestinien
U.S. Designation Date: August 22, 2003
Background: Commite de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP) and Association de Secours Palestinien (ASP) are primary fundraisers for HAMAS in France and Switzerland, respectively. Founded in France in the late 80s/early 90s, like other HAMAS-affiliated charities, CBSP acts in collaboration with more than a dozen humanitarian organizations based in different towns in the West Bank and Gaza and in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. ASP, a subsidiary of CBSP, was founded in Switzerland in 1994. The group has collected large amounts of money from mosques and Islamic centers, which it then transfers to sub-organizations of HAMAS. Khalid Al-Shuli (designated under Executive Order 13224 on August 22, 2003) is the president of CBSP and ASP.
AKAs: Association for Palestinian Aid
Palestine Relief Committee
Palestinian Aid Council
Palestinian Aid Organization
Palestinian Relief Society
Relief Association for Palestine
For Additional Information: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/po3632.htm |
