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5-760: Testimony of David D. Aufhauser before the the Committee on Banking, Housin...

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PRESS ROOM

FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

September 25, 2003


JS-760

Written Testimony of
David D. Aufhauser, General Counsel
before the
the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
United States Senate
September 25, 2003

Chairman Shelby, Senator Sarbanes, and distinguished members of this


Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today about the United States
Government's efforts generally, and the efforts of the Department of the Treasury in
particular, to address the financing of terror.

Shortly after the September 11th attacks, President Bush gave those of us who
work on these issues very clear orders. He told us to starve the terrorists of
funding. Since that mandate over two years ago, the United States has waged a
"war" against global terrorism. We at Treasury are principally involved in the
financial front of that "war." But this "war" is profoundly uncommon. There is no
known sovereign; no uniformed army; no hill to take; no target that is seemingly out
of bounds. Indeed, terrorists obscenely place a premium upon the death of
innocents. It is shadow warfare, and a key source of the stealth and mobility
necessary to wage the war is money.

Money is the fuel for the enterprise of terror. It may also be its Achilles' heel. It can
leave a signature, an audit trail, which, once discovered, might well prove the best
single means of identification and capture of terrorists and pinpointing their donors.
Financial records are literally the diaries of terror. Stopping the flow of money to
terrorists may be one of the very best ways we have of stopping terror altogether.
That is a dramatic statement, but it is not possible to overstate the importance of
the campaign against terrorist financing. If you follow and stop the money, you
have gone a long way to diminish the killing and destruction.

That being said, it is unwise to understate the difficulty of this endeavor. Our
economy is deliberately open and porous. The ways to game restrictions on the
flow of capital within the banking system are nearly infinite, and the endeavor
becomes more difficult when money is moved outside the banking system.
Moreover, the challenge is worldwide in scope. The overwhelming bulk of the
assets we seek to freeze; the cash flow that we hope to strangle; and the records
that we aspire to exploit are beyond the oceans that surround us. To act alone
would justly invite critique.

In the United States, the program to wage the financial front of the war includes:
(i) an Executive Order using the powers granted by the Congress through the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act that raises the standards of conduct
and due diligence of financial intermediaries, and explicitly targets underwriters of
terror for the freezing of their assets;
(ii) UN Security Council resolutions and conventions that internationalize asset
freezes and mandate the criminalization of terrorist financing;
(iii) more scrutiny at the gateway to U.S. financial markets that has been provided
under the USA PATRIOT Act;
(iv) law enforcement criminal investigations and foreign intelligence operations
aimed at terrorist supporters and terrorist financiers;
(v) extensive diplomatic efforts, including the engagement of central bankers and

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js760.htm 9/25/03
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LexisNexis
The Associated Press

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be
republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press.

February 19, 1994, Saturday, AM cycle

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 177 words

HEADLINE: Saudi Family Disassociates Itself From Terrorist' Member

DATELINE: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

BODY:
The Bin Laden family, one of the richest non-royal families in Saudi Arabia, issued a statement
Saturday to disassociate itself from a member who has been widely linked to Islamic terrorist groups.

In a faxed message to Saudi newspapers, Bakr Mohammed Bin Laden, leader of the Jiddah-based
family, expressed the family's "regret, denunciation and condemnation of all acts that Osama Bin Laden
may have committed, which we do not condone and which we reject."

Osama Bin Laden, Bakr Mohammed Bin Laden's brother, is believed to be a prominent leader of the
so-called Afghan Arabs - Arab Muslims who helped help the Muslim rebels of Afghanistan in that
country's civil war in the 1980s.

The Afghan Arabs later returned to their homes to foster fundamentalist Islam, at times resorting to
violence.

Osama Bin Laden has been mentioned in connection with a group tried in Yemen on charges of
committing several acts of terrorism. They are said to be linked to bomb attacks on two hotels in Aden
in December 1992 in which two Austrian tourists were killed.

LOAD-DATE: February 19, 1994

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Federal News Service June 12, 2003 Thursday

Copyright 2003 Federal News Service, Inc.


Federal News Service

June 12, 2003 Thursday

SECTION: STATE DEPARTMENT BRIEFING

LENGTH: 7589 words

HEADLINE: NEWS CONFERENCE WITH ADEL AL-JUBEIR, ADVISER TO THE SAUDI CROWN
PRINCE

SUBJECTS: RIYADH BOMBINGS ON MAY 12, WAR ON TERRORISM, OVERSIGHT OF


CHARITIES AND BANKING SYSTEM

LOCATION: EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA, WASHINGTON, D.C.

BODY:
MR. AL-JUBEIR: Good morning, everyone. I want to thank all of you for coming to our
embassy this morning.

I wanted to give you an update on where we stand in terms of the Riyadh bombings and the
war on terrorism, as well as lay out for you some of the rules and regulations and laws that
we have implemented in Saudi Arabia with regard to oversight and control of our charities as
well as our banking system and money-laundering laws and things of that nature. And then
I'd be happy to take some questions.

It has been now a month since the horrific attacks in Riyadh on May 12th. The attacks
resulted in the killing of innocent people who were trying to lead normal lives. They were
murdered in the darkness of the night as they were in their homes with their children and
their families and their friends.

The attacks, for Saudi Arabia, represented a major jolt, and it brought out a determination by
Saudis to ensure that we can do everything possible to prevent such murders from
happening in our country again. They have galvanized us. They have mobilized us. They have
taken the rug out from under the terrorists or anyone who may have sympathy for them. We
vowed that we will go after the terrorists and bring them to justice. We will go after those
who support them. We will go after those who use religion to justify such behavior, which is
alien to any faith, in particular our Islamic faith. And we began to take a series of steps.

We have questioned scores of people. We have sought help from a number of countries,
including the United States. We have now detained over 25 people in connection with this
bombing. We have looked more intensely in terms of our — what is being said in our
mngqups and trip^ fo curb incitement. We have over the last few months dismissed several
hundred imams for straying out of the bounds of religion and for engaging in political activity
at the mosques. We have referred over a thousand imams to educational programs in order
to educate them about their roles and what is permissible, what's not permissible, so that the
-- wj_caneliminatejextremism, intolerance and radicalism from our mosques. /

http://www.lexis.com/research/retrieve?_m=69323f8a8al7f2a9bdOc27316cb41OO&docnum... 7/14/03
tin-Al-Yaqeen - November 29, 2002 - Article 7 Page 1 of 11

November 29, 2002

AIN-AL-YAqeCN

AT THE ANNUAL CEREMONY OF AL BIR


SOCIETY AND ITS BRANCHES IN RIYADH:
PRINCE SALMAN IBN ABDUL AZIZ: IN EACH
QUARTER OF THE CITY THERE IS A BRANCH
OF THE SOCIETY THAT PROVIDES HELP TO
THE NEEDY UNDER THE PATRONIZATION OF
THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY
MOSQUES, HIS ENTRUSTED CROWN PRINCE,
THE SECOND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND
THE STATE.
THE GOVERNOR OF MAKKAH AL
MUKKARAMAH: THE KINGDOM ALWAYS
SERVES ISLAM AND IS HONOURED TO SERVE MUSLIMS AROUND THE
WORLD.
PRINCE MOHAMMED IBN FAHD: THE WORK OF THE CHARITIES
PROVIDES AN ANSWER TO ALL CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE KINGDOM.
PRINCE SULTAN IBN SALMAN: THE APPROVAL OF A LIST OF SITES IN
EIGHT AREAS TO BE DEVELOPED FOR TOURISM PURPOSES.

Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh region and Chairman of Al Bir
Charitable society and its branches in Riyadh patronized the society's annual
ceremony at Prince Salman social center in Riyadh.

Prince Salman was received at the venue by the Minister of Employment and
Social Affairs Dr Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al Namla, the Secretary General of Al Bir Society
Hamad Ibn Mohammed Suaidan, the Director General of Prince Salman social
center Rashad Ibn Said Haroon and a number of official from Al Bir Society.

Upon his arrival Prince Salman toured the exhibition held on the occasion and the
ceremony started with readings from the Holy Quran.

Then Dr Abdul Rahman Ibn Hamad Al Humeidi delivered a speech on behalf of the
Secretary General of the Society in which he welcomed Prince Salman and praised
the countries leaders and philanthropists for their charitable work.

He praised the support and care provided to Al Bir societies from the leaders of the
country since the era of the King Abdul Aziz, God Bless his soul and until the era of
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz. He said Al Bir
society has concentrated its work in a series of charitable activities to serve those
in need through receiving donations from philanthropists and distributing them to
those in need.

Dr Abdul Rahman Ibn Hamad Al Humeidi pointed to the needy sectors of people

http://www.ain-al-yaqeen.com/issues/20021129/feat7en.htm 7/29/03
Ain-Al-Yaqeen - July 25, 2003 - Article 6 Pagel of 10

July 25, 2003

THWARTING A DESTRUCTIVE PLAN IN SAUDI


ARABIA, THE ARREST OF 16 TERRORISTS AND
THE CONFISCATION OF 20 TONS OF
EXPLOSIVES HIDDEN IN FARMS AND REST
HOUSES.
PRINCE NAIF IBN ABDUL AZIZ: THE
DETAINEES ARE MEMBERS OF AL QAEDA,
THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF THE
19.
THE MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR CALLS UPON
THE CITIZENS TO BE VIGILANT AND NOT
PARTICIPATE WITHOUT KNOWING IN THE
KILLING OF INNOCENT PEOPLE BY GIVING DONATIONS TO SUSPECTED
CHARITIES.

Saudi Arabia vowed not to rest until it has "cleaned up" the Kingdom of any
remaining terror cells following the arrest of 16 suspected terrorists, thwarting
attacks on key installations in the Kingdom. Interior Minister Prince Naif told Asharq
AI-Awsat, the 16 detained men were "certainly" members of AI-Qaeda.

"We will not stop until we are absolutely certain that the country has been cleaned
of these people," Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz vowed, adding that it was premature to
call a halt to the crackdown on suspected militants.

A large cache of arms and ammunitions was found in hideouts in Riyadh, Qasim
and the Eastern Province. The Minister of the Interior said the weapons had been
smuggled into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, adding that further details would be
provided only after a full investigation was completed.

The number of those arrested in relation to terrorism in the Kingdom of Saudi


Arabia increased to 240 people, said the Interior Minister Prince Naif Ibn Abdul
Aziz in press remarks.

The 16-member terrorist cell declared arrested Monday, he said, was planning
simultaneous attacks on sensitive targets in several Saudi areas to inflict severe
damage.

Prince Naif denied that this latest arrest came through cooperation with foreign
parties.

The Interior Minister Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz stressed all the information that led
to the arrests in Riyadh, Qasim and the Eastern region was the result of vigilant
security personnel effort adding no one was injured in the arrest.

http://www.ain-al-yaqeen.com/issues/20030725/feat6en.htm 7/29/03
3 of 100 DOCUMENTS

Copyright 2001 The Financial Times Limited


Financial Times (London)

June 1, 2001, Friday London Edition 1

SECTION: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY; Pg. 12

LENGTH: 730 words

HEADLINE: US may ease stance over money laundering: Coalition is pushing regarding reporting of big cash
deposits, report Edward Alden and Michael Peel

BYLINE: By EDWARD ALDEN and MICHAEL PEEL

BODY:
The US government has, over the past decade, been at the forefront of an international campaign to discourage
money laundering by cracking down on countries seen as havens for financial secrecy.
But scarcely four months into office, the Bush administration is reconsidering the virtues and vices of financial
privacy. The result could have the effect of sharply weakening US support for the international initiative.
The Treasury department is understood to have launched a review of domestic anti-money laundering laws. Current
rules, intended to deter laundering through banks, require them to report any cash deposits over Dollars 10,000, and flag
any unusual pattern of transactions in reports filed to the government.
Dina Ellis, who was previously a senior lawyer on the Senate banking committee under Phil Gramm, a Texas
Republican who staunchly opposes tougher financial regulations, is heading the Treasury review.
Paul O'Neill, Treasury secretary, said earlier this month that the Dollars 10,000 threshold for reporting "imposes a
significant cost on society".
Mr O'Neill also questioned whether the roughly Dollars 700m the government spends annually to fight money
laundering is well spent. The pressure on the administration is coming from a loose coalition that has brought together
small bankers, privacy advocates and libertarians.
The same coalition last year helped to quash legislation that would have expanded "know your customer" rules and
forced banks to identify all their clients and beneficial owners of assets.
Pressure from similar groups caused the administration last month to weaken its support for an Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) plan to crack down on tax haven secrecy.
The OECD set up the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 1989 to spearhead a global fight against money
laundering. A key FATF requirement is that institutions put in place rules similar to the "know your customer"
provisions that were blocked in the US.
The FATF last year produced a blacklist of 15 countries that it said had proved insufficiently co-operative in
discouraging money- laundering.
The group is set to meet next month to review the list and decide whether to impose sanctions against previously
blacklisted countries that have failed to reform their laws.
But US support remains critical.
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Financial Times (London) October 18, 2002, Friday

Copyright 2002 The Financial Times Limited


Financial Times (London)

October 18, 2002, Friday London Edition 1

SECTION: COMMENT & ANALYSIS; Pg. 19

LENGTH: 2484 words

HEADLINE: The money trail: how a crackdown on suspect charities is failing to stem the
flow of funds to al-Qaeda: TERROR FINANCE: US-led efforts to shut down organisations
that channel money to terrorists are frustratingly incomplete. But poor international co-
operation is only partly to blame, writes Edward Alden:

BYLINE: By EDWARD ALDEN

BODY:
Last March, just days after a visit by Paul O'Neill, US Treasury secretary, Saudi Arabia
blocked the funds of the Somalia and Bosnia branches of al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.
The Riyadh-headquartered group, authorities alleged, was "diverting charitable funds" to
terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda.

It was the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11 last year that Saudi Arabia
had moved against one of the charities thought to be the biggest source of funding for al-
Qaeda. The crackdown, the two governments declared, would "open a new phase in
international co-operation to destroy the terrorist financing network".

Last month, however, Saudi newspapers reported that the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation
was expanding its operations in both Bosnia and Somalia, and had opened a Dollars 530,000
Islamic centre in Sarajevo. US officials are aware of the developments and are investigating.

The failure to curb al-Haramain - to date the only charity targeted jointly by the US and
Saudi Arabia - is the latest sign that Mr O'Neill's pledge to shut down "the quartermasters of
terror" is foundering.

The executive order issued by George W. Bush after September 11, calling for a worldwide
crackdown on funding for terrorist groups, remains a key element of the US war on
terrorism. But according to a study by the Council on Foreign Relations, released yesterday, a
lack of co-operation by Saudi Arabia and some other US allies resulted in little disruption to
the web of charities, businesses and other fund-raising ventures that provide al-Qaeda with
huge sums of money.

Others have reached similar conclusions. Canadian intelligence agencies estimated in a July
25 report, obtained by the National Post newspaper, that Saudi-based charities alone are
funnelling between Dollars 1m and Dollars 2m a month to al-Qaeda. Last month the United
Nations warned that al-Qaeda continues to have access to between Dollars 30m and Dollars
300m in funds controlled by otherwise legitimate businesses and charities. While about
Dollars 112m in funds linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban has been frozen, that figure
represents only "a small fraction of the funds and resources" available to those groups, the

https://www.lexis.com/research/retrieve?_m=ff27ceee4c8094277f893c84e7ee3426&docnum... 8/11/03
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Financial Times (London) December 4, 2002, Wednesday

Copyright 2002 The Financial Times Limited


Financial Times (London)

December 4, 2002, Wednesday USA Edition 1

SECTION: THE AMERICAS; Pg, 3

LENGTH: 406 words

HEADLINE: Saudis fail to dispel terror finance tension WASHINGTON CONCERNS:

BYLINE: By EDWARD ALDEN

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
Saudi Arabia said yesterday it would not lower its standard of evidence for designating
financial supporters of terrorism, setting the stage for continued conflict with the US over the
adequacy of Saudi measures to crack down on terrorist financing.

But Adel al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, the Saudi leader, said he
did not believe the US would act unilaterally against Saudi individuals or groups suspected of
supporting terrorism. "When it comes to designations of either individuals or organisations . .
. we work together," he said.

The statements in Washington yesterday came as part of the first concerted effort by Saudi
Arabia to quell mounting US criticisms that it has not done enough to crack down on Saudi
charities or individuals that the US suspects of funnelling money to terrorists.

The administration of US President George W. Bush is debating whether to step up pressure


on the Saudis by threatening unilateral action, designating and freezing bank accounts of
some Saudis suspected of financing terrorism. Since last March, the two governments have
agreed that all such actions would be undertaken jointly.

An inter-agency group of the administration's top officials dealing with terrorist financing is
set to recommend to Mr Bush that the US act alone if the Saudis fail to co-operate after the
US presents additional evidence regarding sus-pect individuals and groups.

The US has been frustrated that Saudi Arabia and other allies, including the European Union,
have insisted on criminal standards of proof before moving ahead with terrorist designations.

Mr al-Jubeir said yesterday that Saudi Arabia would not budge on that issue, calling it a
matter of "equity and justice". But he said the Saudi government was "working with the US
on looking at a number of individuals" to see if there was sufficient evidence to take action.

Jonathan Winer, a former State Department official who helped author a recent Council on
Foreign Relations study critical of the Saudis on terror financing, said yesterday's press
conference might signal a Saudi willingness to agree with the US on further desig-nations.

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Page 1 of 4

Testimony
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
An Assessment of the Tools Needed to Fight the Financing of Terrorism
November 20, 2002

Mr. Salam AI-Marayati


Executive Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Hatch, and distinguished members of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, for inviting me to appear before you today.

My name is Salam Al-Marayati and I am the executive director of the Muslim Public
Affairs Council (MPAC). I was invited to testify today on "An Assessment of Tools
Needed to Fight the Financing of Terrorism."

I. The Muslim Public Affairs Council and it's Role in the Fight Against Terrorism

Before I delve into the particular issues of today's topic, let me say a word about
MPAC, it's mission, and its work. MPAC was founded in 1988 as a vehicle to increase
outreach and dialogue efforts between the American Muslim community and other
Americans. MPAC's main purpose is to develop and promote a constituency of
American citizens imbued with Islamic values of mercy, compassion, justice and
freedom. We firmly believe that to be a good American is to be a good Muslim. MPAC
has articulated an authentic Islamic voice within an indigenous American tradition.

Prior to the tragedy of September 11, 2001, MPAC had developed a track record on
national security issues. In 1989, we organized the first conference in the country
addressing American international interests in the Muslim world, convening Muslim
leaders from around the world in a discussion with US diplomats. MPAC has also been
a leader in interfaith dialogue as a means of promoting understanding and
reconciliation, and as a model that can be emulated in areas of conflicts involving
religion as a motivation for violence. To date, MPAC's Muslim-Jewish dialogue and
Muslim-Christian dialogues have expanded from merely promoting mutual respect to
heightened levels of joint interfaith action in the service of people and communities.
MPAC has held several forums in Washington, DC on such topics as: on America's
global image, on the concept of an Islamic democracy, on Middle East peace and
trends in Islamic movements. Finally, MPAC and law enforcement have issued joint
statements against terrorism and calling for cooperation between citizens and the
authorities.

In 1999, MPAC was the first and only American Muslim organization to publish a
counterterrorism policy position paper, which included: an overview of Islam's stand
against terrorism; an analysis of key trends in combating terrorism; a documentation of
American Muslim organizations' condemnations of terrorism dating back to the early

http://judiciary.senate.gov/print_testimony.cfm?id=519&wit_id=1422 4/30/2003
National Review Online (http://www.nationalreview.com) Page 1 of 6

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From the Archives PrinLVersion

November 26, 2002, 8:30 a.m.


The End of an Alliance
It's time to tell the House of Saud goodbye.

By Alex Alexiev

EDITOR'S NOTE: This appeared in the October 28, 2002, issue of National Review.

O ver the long run, the key to winning the war against Islamist terror is helping moderates
win the political struggle within Islam. The early stages of the war on terror showed much
promise in this respect. In a remarkably short time, using a quiet but effective carrot-and-
stick approach, Washington was able to effect an about-face in Pakistan's policies,
transforming it from an al-Qaeda sponsor to a cooperative ally. Similar changes were secured
by similar methods in some other countries known previously as havens for extremists, such
as Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan.

Since then, however, the U.S. has failed to pursue a coherent political strategy aimed at de-
legitimizing the ideology of Islamic terrorism and undermining the terrorists' sources of
support. And it is becoming increasingly clear that the reason for this failure is Washington's
unwillingness to risk a rupture with Saudi Arabia. But the Bush administration has to face up
to the fact that Riyadh has been — and remains — the main ideological and financial sponsor
of Islamic extremism worldwide, and is not at all interested in helping us combat it. Until the
administration confronts this reality in a decisive manner, lasting progress in the war on
terrorism is unlikely.

Nothing better illustrates the Saudis' intransigence — and the administration's timidity in
dealing with it — than two cases of U.S.-Saudi "cooperation" that recently came to light. On
March 11, the Treasury Department announced with great fanfare that the U.S. and Saudi
Arabia had jointly blocked the funds of the Bosnia and Somalia offices of the "private,
charitable, and educational" Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation because it was diverting funds
to terrorists. This action, according to Treasury, "opened a new phase in international
cooperation to destroy terrorist financing" and proved the "strength of the anti-terror
coalition." In reality, Al-Haramain — alongside the World Muslim League — is the Saudis'
largest Islamist front organization, controlled directly by the minister ot religious airairs~and in
charge of spending huge amounts of (mostly government) money to promote the radical-'
isiamist agenda worldwide, it nas ottices in over 50 countries and operates through Saudi
embassies in another 40; as for its Bosnia and Somalia operations, business even there is
continuing as usual, despite additional evidence of terrorist ties unearthed by Bosnian police in
a raid on June 3. Al-Haramain's director, Aqeel al-Aqeel, noted with satisfaction in early
September that "America has tried to establish a link between terrorism ,ajjd Islamic charitable
societies and failed" — and went on to assert tha^Al-Haramain's donatjojis and activities both
have intensified since 9/11. Indeed they have: Al-Haramain has opened three new offices since

The second case deals with Wael Hamza Julaidan. A Saudi citizen from a prominent family,

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16 of 55 DOCUMENTS

The Associated Press

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without
the express written consent of The Associated Press.

May 23, 2002, Thursday, BC cycle

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 265 words

HEADLINE: U.S. Treasury Department vehemently denied U.N. report saying bank flagged bank transfer to Sept. 11
suicide hijacker

DATELINE: UNITED NATIONS

BODY:
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday vehemently denied a U.N. report that Mohamed Atta, one of the
terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, received a transfer of funds into his U.S. account
which was flagged by his bank.
According to Wednesday's U.N. report, the bank filed a "suspicious transaction report" with the Treasury
Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network "which was not noticed quickly enough because the report was
just one of a very large number and was not distinguishable from those related to other financial crimes."
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said in a statement Thursday that it wanted "to unequivocally deny
that any suspicious activity report was filed prior to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 on terrorist Mohamed Atta."
The U.N. report was prepared by an expert group, authorized by the Security Council to monitor implementation of
new sanctions against Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaida terror network, and Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers.
Michael Chandler of Britain, chairman of the monitoring group, said Thursday he had no comment until he
returned to U.N. headquarters from Europe next week to analyze the information that went into the report.
Atta, 33, an Egyptian, was the suicide pilot of one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center. He was described
by bin Laden as "in charge of the group" of Sept. 11 suicide hijackers.
The U.N. report cited a transfer of $69,985 into Atta's U.S. account as an example of the difficulties in
differentiating "laundered money."

LOAD-DATE: May 24, 2002


- Dubai Banks Remain Focus Of Terror Funding Investigation Page 1 of 3

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. O N L I fi £

January 17, 2004 7:47 p.m. EST

Dubai Banks Remain Focus Of Terror Funding Investigation


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

DUBAI (AP)--Banks in this financial hub of the Arab world remain a key focus in the worldwide
investigation of terror funding despite moves to tighten reporting rules, freeze accounts and
control informal money transfers, U.S. and Arab officials told The Associated Press.

The reason: Dubai's history of shady transactions and the difficulty of tracking a matrix of legal
and illegal free trade.

About half the $250,000 spent on the Sept. 11 attacks was wired to al-Qaida terrorists in the U.S.
from Dubai banks, said officials of the U.S. Treasury and Central Bank of the United Arab
Emirates.

Al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in
Kenya and Tanzania blamed on Osama bin Laden.

In addition, before Saddam Hussein's ouster, this Persian Gulf emirate was a favorite transit point
for smugglers sneaking past U.S.-led naval patrols enforcing U.N. trade sanctions. And it was
through Dubai that Russian arms dealers supplied bin Laden's Taliban backers in Afghanistan
before the U.S.-led war ousted their Islamic government, officials say.

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Sultan bin Nasser al-Suweidi, head of the Central Bank, told AP that financial officials are
working closely with the U.S. government to block terror funding. Central Bank officials have
trained with U.S. investigators and other international experts to help them identify money
launderers and suspicious transactions, he said.

"We don't want wrongdoers. We totally don't need them," said the U.S.-educated al-Suweidi, who
arrives at his office before 8 a.m. and is often seen working until 10 at night in the fortress-like
Central Bank headquarters in the Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi.

Banks in Dubai, which were not required to report incoming transfers of less than $55,000 before
the Sept. 11 attacks, must now tell the Central Bank about any transfer of more $11,000, al-
Suweidi said.

http://online.wsj .com/article_print/0,,BT_CO_20040117_000209,00.html 2/5/2004


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ONLINE'
T JOURNAL.
January 17,2004 7:47 p.m. EST

Dubai Banks Remain Focus Of Terror Funding Investigation


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

DUBAI (AP)--Banks in this financial hub of the Arab world remain a key focus in the worldwide
investigation of terror funding despite moves to tighten reporting rules, freeze accounts and
control informal money transfers, U.S. and Arab officials told The Associated Press.

The reason: Dubai's history of shady transactions and the difficulty of tracking a matrix of legal
and illegal free trade.

About half the $250,000 spent on the Sept. 11 attacks was wired to al-Qaida terrorists in the U.S.
from Dubai banks, said officials of the U.S. Treasury and Central Bank of the United Arab
Emirates.

Al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in
Kenya and Tanzania blamed on Osama bin Laden.

In addition, before Saddam Hussein's ouster, this Persian Gulf emirate was a favorite transit point
for smugglers sneaking past U.S.-led naval patrols enforcing U.N. trade sanctions. And it was
through Dubai that Russian arms dealers supplied bin Laden's Taliban backers in Afghanistan
before the U.S.-led war ousted their Islamic government, officials say.

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Sultan bin Nasser al-Suweidi, head of the Central Bank, told AP that financial officials are
working closely with the U.S. government to block terror funding. Central Bank officials have
trained with U.S. investigators and other international experts to help them identify money
launderers and suspicious transactions, he said.

"We don't want wrongdoers. We totally don't need them," said the U.S.-educated al-Suweidi, who
arrives at his office before 8 a.m. and is often seen working until 10 at night in the fortress-like
Central Bank headquarters in the Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi.

Banks in Dubai, which were not required to report incoming transfers of less than $55,000 before
the Sept. 11 attacks, must now tell the Central Bank about any transfer of more $11,000, al-
Suweidi said.

http://online.wsj .com/article_print/0,,BT_CO_20040117_000209,00.html 2/5/2004


2) Federal Judge Refuses to Increase Charity Director's Prison Time
Associated Press

CHICAGO -- In a sharp blow to the government, a judge refused Thursday to add as much as a
dozen years to the sentence of an Islamic charity director linked to Osama bin Laden, saying his
racketeering offense wasn't a crime of terrorism.

Enaam Arnaout, 41 years old, would have been sentenced to 20 years under federal guidelines
calling for tougher prison terms for those convicted of terrorism offenses.

Judge Suzanne B. Conlon ruled, however, that the terrorism guideline doesn't apply in Mr.
Arnaout's case.

He wasn't convicted of a terrorism offense, she said, "Nor does the record reflect that he
attempted, participated in, or conspired to commit any act of terrorism."

For a simple racketeering conviction he could be sentenced to eight to 10 years in federal prison.
Ms. Conlon has leeway to give him more or less at sentencing, scheduled for Aug. 18.

Defense attorney Joseph Duffy said the decision "pretty much vindicates what the defense has
claimed from the inception, and that is that neither he nor his charity had anything to do with
terrorism."

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald issued a brief statement saying his office disagreed with Ms.
Conlon's ruling.

Mr. Arnaout headed Benevolence International Foundation, a charity in suburban Chicago that
funneled millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to Muslim countries for a decade. The charity is
now all but defunct. :
•,',,r
'.Jil

In his plea agreement, Mr. Arnaout admitted defrauding donors who thought the money went only
to widows, orphans and the poor by sending some to Muslim military units in Bosnia and
Chechnya.

He also admitted that Mr. bin Laden had befriended him in Pakistan in the 1980s. Mr. Arnaout
denied that he has funneled money to the al Qaeda terrorism network and insisted he doesn't
support terrorism.

Prosecutors said he has many links to al Qaeda and Mr. bin Laden. Among other things, they
said the minutes of the founding meeting of al Qaeda were found on Mr. Arnaout's computer at a
Benevolence office in Bosnia.

Ms. Conlon said, however, that the law specifically lists crimes involving terrorism, ranging from
use of biological weapons to attacking airports.

She said racketeering wasn't among them.

"The government has not established that the Bosnian and Chechen recipients of BIF aid were
engaged in a federal act of terrorism," she said. She said boots, blankets, uniforms and other
goods donated to the Muslim fighters by the charity weren't shown to be for terrorist uses.

Mr. Arnaout, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen, has been held without bond since his April 2002 arrest.

PRESS CLIPS FOR JULY 18, 2003


THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S GUIDELINES ON
GENERAL CRIMES, RACKETEERING ENTERPRISE AND
TERRORISM ENTERPRISE INVESTIGATIONS
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S REVIEW TEAM
ON THE HANDLING OF THE
LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY INVESTIGATION

OVERVIEW OF TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT, METHODOLOGY, AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......... 1

CHAPTER TWO: Jgf THE 1982-1984 INVESTIGATION OF WEN


HO LEE ................................................................. 23

V»\R ONE: (U) INTRODUCTION, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, MISSION


CHAPTER FOUR (U) OVERVIEW OF THE FBI'S HANDLING
OF TOE WEN HO LEE INVESTIGATION ...................................... 55
CHAPTER FIVE: j$ THE FBI'S CONDUCT OF THE PRELIMINARY
INQUIRY ONWBNHO LEE: APRIL 19M to NOVEMBER 1995 ., .......... ....... 222
CHAPTER SIX: (U) THE PREDICATE .... ...... ; .......... ...... - ....... ...234
CHAPIERSEVEN: (U) THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S
ADMINISTRATIVE mQUmY: SEPTEMBER 1995 TO MAY 1996 ....... ..........339
CHAPTEREIGHTi (U) THEFBrSmVBSTIGATIONOFWBN
HO LEB AND SYLVIA LEE: MAY 1996TO APRIL 1997..;.. ............. .......389
CHAPTER NINE: (U) THE SEARCH OF WEN HO LEE'S COMPUTER 396

CHAPTER TEN: (U) TOBFBPSINVBSTiaATiONOFWBNHO


LEB AND SYLVIA LBB: APRIL 1997 TO JUNE 1997
36 Hours | Austin, Tex. Page 1 of 3

nytimeB.COm SPONSORED w

March 28,2003

36 Hours | Austin, Tex.


By RUTH PENNEBAKER

T EXANS, especially sentimental University of Texas alumni, have long agonized over Austin's
soul. Does Austin remain easygoing and eccentric in its setting of rugged hills, trees and lakes?
Are its politics still liberal and is its music still rowdy? Is it still a refuge for slackers who don't want to
grow up and move to Houston or Dallas? Now, after the influence and affluence of a high-tech boom in
the 90's, the agonizers wear T-shirts pleading, "Keep Austin Weird." After all, Armadillo World
Headquarters, the nightclub where cowboys and hippies gathered to create country rock, is buried under
concrete; chilly Barton Springs Pool, the spring-fed pond where swimmers compare goose bumps, has
been closed to test for toxins. But so what? Austin remains playful and offbeat, and Leslie Cochran,
who won 8 percent of the mayoral vote in 2000 after campaigning in drag, is running for mayor again.
So listen to the music, stroll along the lakes, hang out in the beer gardens and let the city work its
curious magic and lazy charm. In 2023, you can tell everybody how wonderful Austin was 20 years
ago, when its soul was still intact.

Friday

6p.m.
1) Look It Over
From atop the 780-foot hill called Mount Bonnell, you can see both the old Austin H the University of
Texas tower, the Colorado River H and newer landmarks like the amber-colored curves of the
Pennybacker Bridge. To get there, drive west on 35th Street, turn right on Mount Bonnell Drive and
park near the 100-plus steps leading to the top. This gorgeous vista has moved some visitors from the
West to say that Austin "belongs" in California. Please be advised that many Austinites do not regard
such comments as flattering.

8 p.m.
2) Warmth of a Good Dinner
In 1975, Jeffrey's (1204 West Lynn Street, 512-477-5584) began offering delicious dinners in a low-
rent, funky section of West Austin. Almost three decades later, its chalkboard menus are gone and its
neighborhood is high rent, but the atmosphere is still casual and intimate, and its American cuisine is
luscious. Try the crispy oysters ($11.75), the yellow-fin tuna ($25.75) and the ermine brVlme ($7.50). If
you are lucky, you will be served by John Guffey, who has worked at the restaurant for more than 20
years, waiting on presidents, governors, students, musicians and aging hippies. Your meal will be
seasoned with witticisms about culture, politics, love and coronary bypasses. ("I'm always interested to
see what the youth of America is piercing these days," he commented after Austin's most recent South
by Southwest Music Festival.)

Saturday

8 a.m.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/28/travel/28HOUR.html?ei=5070&en=0749c7763c8eOd... 2/25/2004
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Subject: translation of document re: BIF

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