Islamic charity tied to al-Qaida

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Wednesday, May 1, 2002

CHICAGO -- An Islamic charity and its director were charged with perjury Tuesday and accused by the FBI of supporting people who tried to obtain nuclear weapons for Osama bin Laden and plotted to assassinate the pope.

Federal agents said the Benevolence International Foundation had links to bin Laden going back decades and gave sizable amounts of cash to his al-Qaida network.

The FBI also said members of al-Qaida have held positions within the charity, and that a man who tried to obtain uranium for bin Laden even listed the charity's Illinois address as his home.

Enaam M. Arnaout, the head of the charity based in suburban Palos Hills, was arrested at his home Tuesday. The 39-year-old Syrian-born naturalized American was ordered held for a hearing May 7.

"This complaint alleges Benevolence International Foundation was supporting violence secretly," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.

An attorney for the charity, Matthew Piers, did not immediately return a call.

The foundation is one of two Chicago-area Islamic charities whose assets were frozen Dec. 14 on suspicion of supporting terrorism. Federal agents also raided their offices that day. The co-founder of Global Relief Foundation, the other organization, is being held on an immigration charge.

Both groups have sued the government, denying they have anything to do with terrorism and asking that their assets be released.

According to an FBI affidavit, the Benevolence International Foundation had links to people involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a plot to bomb U.S. airlines and the plan to assassinate Pope John Paul II.

The affidavit does not accuse Arnaout or the charity of involvement in the plots. But it says they lied about their ties to terrorists who were involved.

Brochures for Benevolence International describe it as a humanitarian organization "dedicated to helping those afflicted by wars and natural disasters" in Afghanistan and other countries. IRS reports show that it received $3.3 million in contributions for the year ending April 2000.

The FBI affidavit said that Benevolence International was founded in the 1980s by Saudi sheik Adil Abdul Galil Batargy, a bin Laden associate, and that control of the group was later given to Arnaout.

Several unidentified witnesses told authorities that al-Qaida members have held positions within the charity and that the group was used by bin Laden in the early 1990s to transfer money, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said bin Laden associate Mamdouh Salim "participated in efforts to obtain nuclear and chemical weapons for al-Qaida." It said the foundation sponsored Salim's visa for a 1998 visit to Bosnia and sponsored him for housing there.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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