Counterterrorism Blog

Al Haramain's ex Director General Aqeel Abdulaziz Al-Aqil is the latest terrorist financier to bring suit to challenge their designation by the US Treasury and UN Al Qaeda Committee as al Qaeda financial supporters. Al-Aqil announced his intention earlier this week to file a lawsuit in DC Federal Court against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Treasury Secretary John Snow, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Juan Zarate, the U.S. Treasury's assistant secretary for terrorism financing for having him put on the UN terrorist designation list. He would have been better advised to try his case in foreign courts where the record established by known terrorist financiers is certainly much better. Previous suits filed in foreign courts, including in Britain, Turkey and Switzerland have had more success -- certainly more than they deserve. Fellow Saudi Financier Yasin Al Qadi (aka al Kadi), who headed the Saudi-based Muwafaq charity foundation implicated in the Al Qaeda US Embassy Bombings, for example, sought and received supposed vindication in Turkish courts earlier this year. Turkey's Chief Public Prosecutor ruled in March 2005 that there was no evidence to suggest that al-Qadi has been involved in any funding for Al Qaeda and no grounds for the Turkish authorities to bring further proceedings against him( See my earlier Blog on the Al Qadi Case). And earlier this month Al Taqwa Bank Director Youssef Nada won a Swiss Court Decision requiring the Swiss Prosecutor's Office to either present its case to the court for prosecution by May 31 or drop it (See my recent Blog on the Nada Case).

Suspected terrorist financiers have also had great success with libel suits in British courts. Khalid bin Mahfouz, for example, brought successful libel actions in the UK against Jean-Charles Brisard and his two JCB Consulting companies as well as against publisher Pluto Press and British author Michael Griffin. French Courts, however, have come up with different results and refused to enforce the UK decision against Brisard. Also a similar case brough by bin Mahfouz against Brisard in Belgium was dismissed. More recently a French Court and a Swiss Court vindicated Brisard in libel cases brought against him by DMI Trust and the Bin Laden Group respectively.

Mahfouz is currently sueing American Research Journalist Rachel Ehrenfeld in British Courts. UK courts are very convenient for this purpose as British law puts the burden in libel cases on the defendant to prove their accusations. But Ehrenfeld is striking backwith a countersuit against Mahfouz in US Courts. Under US law the burden of proof is on libel plaintiffs to show that the allegations are untrue and, that they were made maliciously.

Aqil is likely to find it a hard uphill battle to overturn his designation in US courts. The US District Court in Washington DC made it clear in the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development v. Ashcroft case that the government had wide latitude under Presidential Executive Order and IEEPA to designate suspected terrorist financiers. And the record for libel suits in the US is also quite different than in Britain. An action for libel brought by the Global Relief Foundation against the New York Times, for example, was given short shift. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago (7th Cir.) rejected Global Relief's argument that the defendants must be able to prove that the government's underlying claims were true.

As for the Aqil Case the US Treasury maintains that al-Aqil is a long time supporter of al Qaeda and that numerous al haramain branches under his contol were used to support al Qaeda funding. "When viewed as a single entity," the Treasury Department Designation states, "AHF is one of the principal Islamic NGOs providing support for the al Qaida network and promoting militant Islamic doctrine worldwide. Under Al Aqil’s leadership of AHF, numerous AHF field offices and representatives operating throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and North America appeared to be providing financial and material support to the al Qaida network. Terrorist organizations designated by the U.S. including Jemmah Islammiya, Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, HAMAS and Lashkar E-Taibah received funding from AHF and used AHF as a front for fundraising and operational activities."