Religious "Charities" Fund Terror Operations by Iraqi Insurgents
By Evan Kohlmann
(MNF-IRAQ.COM): "Acting on multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens, Coalition forces raided a suspected Jaysh al-Mujahideen terrorist safe house in Abu Ghurayb, west of Baghdad, Oct. 23. Captured during the raid was Ahmad Ni�mah Khudayyir Abbas (aka. Abu Shihab), a recently identified Jaysh al-Mujahideen lieutenant who oversaw the propaganda cell and who commanded several mortar and improvised explosive device cells. Abu Shihab, as the propaganda chief for the Jaysh al-Mujahideen media cell operating in the Baghdad area, initially recorded videos and digitized them to compact disc for distribution to various Jaysh al-Mujahideen and al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist groups... the videos would be used to recruit terrorists and foreign fighters, as well as to provide information on potential targets for other terrorists... Abu Shihab admitted to being involved in the swindling of money from Iraqi citizens. He, as well as other Jaysh al-Mujahideen terrorists, would represent a local Baghdad charity they set up specifically to funnel donations to Jaysh al-Mujahideen. One method of garnering donations from local citizens, according to Abu Shihab, was to stage pictures with children and young adults highlighting the 'charity�s' name and logo in the background. The pictures would be shown to the Iraqis to solicit money supposedly in support of youth education and religious study; these donations would then be used to support terrorist operations in the Baghdad area."
See also: "Terrorist-Linked Islamic Charities Responsible for Funneling More than $1 million in Aid to Central Iraq"