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Matthew Levitt Archives

Chilling Effect

By Matthew Levitt

Scholars beware: A wave of libel lawsuits threatens to stifle open and honest discussion of issues related to the financing of terrorism. Instead of competing on the battlefield of ideas, where facts speak louder than rhetoric, several individuals and organizations...

Could Hamas Target the West?

By Matthew Levitt

The Holy Land Foundation case has refocused attention on the presence and activities of Hamas in the United States. That activity has focused on raising funds and engaging in propaganda activities, but are there any conditions under which Hamas could...

The Reemergence of Hizballah in Turkey

By Matthew Levitt

With secularism, PKK terrorism, and other Turkish issues becoming international concerns in recent months, a dangerous Islamist trend has been overlooked: radical groups inspired more by the revolutionary ideology of Iran than domestic issues such as Kurdish nationalism are staking...

Six Years after September 11: A 9-11 Commission Progress Report

By Matthew Levitt

Six years after September 11, terrorist attacks still threaten Americans. Although Washington has carried out major reforms to improve its counterterrorism measures, Mike Hurley arges there is a critical lack of urgency on several fronts. And while the United States...

Yassin al-Qadi: the Hamas Connection

By Matthew Levitt

My colleagues Doug Farah and Victor Comras have posted excellent analyses of Yassin al-Qadi on these pages. To further flesh out Qadi's financing activities here in the United States, consider some of the material that came out of the federal...

Better Late than Never: Keeping USAID Funds out of Terrorist Hands

By Matthew Levitt

Foreign aid is an important and effective tool for buttressing allies, alleviating poverty and suffering, supporting key foreign policy objectives, and promoting the image and ideals of the United States abroad. Indeed, as its own website attests, the U.S. Agency...

Designating the IRGC

By Matthew Levitt

The U.S. government is preparing to designate the IRGC, either as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) or under the authority of Executive Order 13224. This designation is intended in part to counteract the group’s growing involvement in a range of...

Undercutting a Culture of Militancy: Designating Hamas Charities

By Matthew Levitt

Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury Department designated as a terrorist organization one of the largest Hamas charities in Gaza, the al-Salah Society, along with its director, Ahmed al-Kurd, a well-known Hamas activist. The organization was outlawed by Israel in 2002 and...

Designated Hamas Charity Listed at 1993 Phili Meeting

By Matthew Levitt

The Treasury designated a key Hamas charity and its director today, adding the al-Salah Society and Ahmed al-Kurd to OFAC's SDGT list. According to new information released by the Treasury Department, "The Al-Salah Society supported Hamas-affiliated combatants during the first...

Hamas and Islamic Jihad Clash

By Matthew Levitt

According to press reports, the day after a Hamas militant was killed by a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hamas responded by killing two militants (one from Islamic Jihad and another from Fatah) and wounding three Islamic Jihad militants....

Dangerous Partners: Targeting the Iran-Hizballah Alliance

By Matthew Levitt

July 18 marked the thirteenth anniversary of Argentina's deadliest terrorist attack: a 1994 car bombing carried out by Hizballah at Iran's behest. The attack targeted the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), a Jewish community organization, killing 85 and wounding more...

Hamas's Hidden Economy

By Matthew Levitt

Military insurrections cost money. To take over the Gaza Strip last month, Hamas had to pay salaries, procure weapons, manufacture rockets, buy help from local crime families, bribe opponents, print leaflets and banners, produce media propaganda and even order up...

Make Iran Feel the Pain

By Matthew Levitt

The international community, led by the U.S. and the U.K., is now developing and debating new economic sanctions against Iran. This third round will be pivotal -- either by significantly increasing the cost to Iran of continuing to engage in...

Gaza: The Next Terrorist Safe Haven?

By Matthew Levitt

Could Hamas members in the Gaza Strip join ranks with the global jihadist movement led by al-Qaeda? There is merit to this question, given the recent Hamas takeover of the territory and al-Qaeda's call for Muslims around the world to...

The War of Words between Hamas and al-Qaeda

By Matthew Levitt

On June 14, Hamas evicted Fatah security forces from the Gaza Strip, establishing full control over the territory. Eleven days later, al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a statement calling on Muslims to support Hamas fighters -- the latest in an...

U.S. Efforts against Terrorism Financing: A View from the Private Sector

By Matthew Levitt

On June 15, 2007, Robert Werner addressed The Washington Institute's Policy Forum seminar series. Managing director of Merrill Lynch's Monetary and Financial Control Group since December 2006, he previously served as director of the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network...

Banning Hizbollah in Europe (prepared statement)

By Matthew Levitt

I submitted written testimony for today's hearing before the Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. My colleague Michael Jacobson testified at the hearing. Introduction Pressing our European allies to add Hezbollah to the European Union (EU)'s terrorism list...

Palestine's Party of God

By Matthew Levitt

As the world watches the Hamas coup in Gaza unfold, it is worth considering that Hamas's emulation of the Hezbollah was not unexpected. Consider the following, from the concluding section of my book HAMAS: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the...

Global Anti-Terrorism Financing Group Challenged by Syria's Application

By Matthew Levitt

This week, the Egmont Group -- an international body of more than 100 national financial intelligence units (FIUs) -- is holding its annual plenary session and working group meetings in Bermuda. One of the issues on the agenda is whether...

How Nicolas Sarkozy could destroy Hezbollah

By Matthew Levitt

In today's The New Republic Online, Mike Jacobson and I argue that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is uniquely positioned to lead the way forward toward a European Union designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Here's why: The United States...

The Role of Finance in Combating National Security Threats

By Matthew Levitt

Last night, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt addressed the Washington Institute for Near East Policy at its annual Soref Symposium where he spoke on the role of finance in combatting national security threats. The full text of...

Financial Measures Targeting Iran

By Matthew Levitt

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days in Brussels discussing the strategy of applying targeted financial measures against Iran. I debated a senior EU official on the matter (where there was much more agreement than debate) and...

Breaking the Terror Finance Code

By Matthew Levitt

Among the many tools available to the US government and our international partners to combat terror financing, leveraging financial intelligence is often overlooked by the public and the press. Buried deep in the U.S. State Department's 335-page report on terrorism...

Brazilian Counterterrorism Efforts

By Matthew Levitt

In March, Brazilian authorities drafted a new antiterrorism law instituting stiff penalties for a variety of violent acts committed by both individuals and organizations. The new legislation, expected to pass Brazil's congress in a modified form, will likely be used...

Arab States' Efforts to Combat Terrorism Financing

By Matthew Levitt

On April 1-5, the seventeen Arab members of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA FATF) met in Jordan to discuss terrorism financing and money laundering in the region. Although the task force's record to date...

Iran's Financial Intelligence Unit: Less than Meets the Eye

By Matthew Levitt

Michael Jacobson writes an interesting piece today about the status of FIUs in Iran and the greater Middle East: An Iranian Financial Intelligence Unit: Less than Meets the Eye By Michael Jacobson April 2, 2007 The State Department's International Narcotics...

Michael Jacobson in the Baltimore Sun: Keep terror-fighting tools, but explain them better

By Matthew Levitt

Michael Jacobson's latest op-ed about the FBI's counterterror tools and the Patriot Act appeared in today's Baltimore Sun. From the Baltimore Sun Keep terror-fighting tools, but explain them better By Michael Jacobson March 30, 2007 In response to recent revelations...

Combating Terrorist Financing in Europe: Gradual Progress

By Matthew Levitt

Michael Jacobson joined the Washington Institute last week from the U.S. Department of Treasury, where he served as senior advisor in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Jacobson was previously a counsel for the 9/11 Commission and the 9/11...

Pulling Tehran's Purse Stings

By Matthew Levitt

How can the United States and the international community raise the costs for Iran's continued defiance of the international community over suspension of its uranium enrichment program? What levers are likely to feed on domestic discontent and induce the regime...

BDA's Blind Eye and Deceptive Practices

By Matthew Levitt

Just a couple of days ago the International Herald Tribune (IHT) reported that Macanese authorities had joined managers of Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in an effort to convince U.S. Treasury officials not to finalize its rule against BDA under...

Russia's Hamas Problem

By Matthew Levitt

In an article that came out today in the Weekly Standard I highlight Moscow's strange relationship with Hamas. Russia has banned the Muslim Brotherhood, but not Hamas -- though Hamas openly identifies itself as the Palestinian wing of the Brotherhood....

US-Designated Hamas Front Gets Symbolic Win in France

By Matthew Levitt

This week a French court ordered the Wiesenthal Center’s Director for International Relations in Paris, Dr. Shimon Samuel, to pay a symbolic one Euro fine in a defamation suit brought by a U.S.-designated Hamas front organization. The Comité de Bienfaisance...

Follow the Money: Challenges and Opportunities in the Campaign to Combat Terrorism Financing

By Matthew Levitt

The U.S. government's much-discussed but little-understood effort to combat terrorism financing faces both challenges and opportunities. Terrorist groups continue to evolve, proactively working to evade existing sanctions and minimize the impact of future ones. Meanwhile, interagency efforts are being called...

Jim Freis Named FinCEN Director

By Matthew Levitt

Today, Jim Freis was named Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. Treasury Department bureau in charge of gathering and analyzing information about financial transactions to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Jim currently serves as the...

Cairo Can and Should Seize Hamas Funds

By Matthew Levitt

Over the past year Hamas leaders have smuggled cash into Gaza across the Egyptian border on several occasions in an attempt to circumvent the existing sanctions barring financial transactions with Hamas or the Hamas led Palestinian government. * In May...

Shutting Hezbollah's "Construction Jihad"

By Matthew Levitt

On February 20, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Jihad al-Bina, Hizballah’s construction company in Lebanon, effectively shutting the terrorist group’s firm out of the international financial system. While the designation will not take effect at the United Nations—sanctions...

How to Sanction Iran: Target the IRGC

By Matthew Levitt

The most robust and effective non-military tool available to the international community in its effort to deal with Iran is to apply Resolution 1737 in full – targeting the IRGC. As I argue in an OpEd published in today’s Washington...

Time for Real TF “Arrests” in Saudi Arabia

By Matthew Levitt

The short-lived excitement over recent reports that Saudi officials arrested 10 individuals said to be involved in financing terrorism outside the Kingdom quickly dissipated when the defendant’s lawyers identified them as political dissidents and human rights groups questioned the arrests....

New Study on Terrorism in North Africa

By Matthew Levitt

In August 2006, al-Qaeda's second-in-command announced a new alliance with the Algeria-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), with the stated aim of becoming a "thorn in the neck" of America and the West. This radical network -- which...

Acquitals in Hamas Trial

By Matthew Levitt

After 14 days of deliberation, a Chicago jury acquited Mohamed Salah and Abdelhalim Ashqar of charges they were involved in a racketeering conspiracy by financing and supporting Hamas terrorism. The two were accused of laundering funds and providing recruits for...

DEBUNKING THE PARADIGM OF INEXPENSIVE TERRORISM

By Matthew Levitt

An increasingly accepted argument holds that terrorism has become a cheap enterprise. Louise Richardson, executive dean of the Radcliff Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, made just that case while testifying before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and...

Hamas HQ Office in Saudi Arabia

By Matthew Levitt

Israeli authorities announced today the arrest of an Israeli-Arab Hamas activist who played central militant, political and financing roles for the group in coordination with a "Hamas command in Saudi Arabia." Until he was arrested last month, Yakub Muhamad Yakub...

Hamas Kidnapping

By Matthew Levitt

Israeli security forces announced today that a West Bank Hamas cell abducted and killed an Israeli businessman from the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev. After several days of searching, Sasson Nuriel's body was found this morning in an industrial...

Saudis Soliciting Funds for Jihad, Cont'd

By Matthew Levitt

Andy's blog earlier today presents very disturbing evidence that despite some positive measures Saudi officials still have far to go when it comes to controlling the funding and promotion of radical Islamic extremism within the Kingdom. But speaking at the...

Latest Evidence Hizballah Funds Palestinian Terrorists

By Matthew Levitt

In the first half of 2004 Israeli intelligence reported that Hizballah's fingerprint was present on 80 percent of terrorist attacks emanating from the West Bank. By then a series of arrested Fatah operatives conceded that Hizballah was funding nearly all...

To Defeat Hamas' Terror, Compete with Hamas' Charity

By Matthew Levitt

Now that Israel has disengaged from the Gaza Strip and four settlements from the northern West Bank, the international community has a clear interest in doing all it can to see that the post-withdrawal security situation remains stable so that...

Netherlands: no distinction between Hezbollah political and terror branches

By Matthew Levitt

The Netherlands just issued the English version of its 2004 annual report on intelligence, a copy of which may be found here. Note what the report has to say about Hezbollah: "Investigations have shown that Hezbollahs terrorist wing, the Hezbollah...

Levitt in WSJ Europe: No Excuse for Terror

By Matthew Levitt

According to British diplomats, Britain is actively pressing the United Nations to adopt a "no excuses" definition of terrorism and an explicit and unconditional condemnation of all acts of terror. The push for such a definition was given new impetus...

THE NEW LEBANON: DEMOCRATIC REFORM AND STATE SPONSORSHIP

By Matthew Levitt

The appointment of a Hizballah member as a minister in the new cabinet raises anew the question of Lebanon's actions regarding terrorism. Lebanese voters can now elect anyone they wish, and the government can fill its cabinet as it sees...

PIJ Suicide Bomber Targets Mall, and "Tahdiya"

By Matthew Levitt

On the evening of Tuesday, July 12, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main entrance to the Hasharon Mall in Netanya, killing three women and wounding twenty four others. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The...

Outgoing Lebanese PM Wounded in Bombing

By Matthew Levitt

Driving through a Christian neighborhood in north Beirut, outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister (and Defense Minister) Elias Murr was wounded in a bombing that targeted his convoy killing at least 2 and wounding 12. Murr, a pro-Syrian politician in his own...

Terror in London, Echoes of Madrid?

By Matthew Levitt

Just one day after London won its bit to host the 2012 Olympic Games, and the morning that world leaders gathered to begin the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, terrorist attacks targeting both the Underground train system and a...

Treasury Designates Senior Syrian Officials

By Matthew Levitt

The U.S. Treasury Department designated two senior Syrian officials "Specially Designated Nationals" (SDN) today under Executive Order 13338 for directing Syria's military and security presence in Lebanon and/or contributing to Syria's support for terrorism. The designations of Ghazi Kanaan, the...

Hezbollah drug ring broken up in Ecuador

By Matthew Levitt

One June 21, 2005 Ecuadorian police announced their success in breaking up an international drug trafficking ring led by a Lebanese restaurant owner, Rady Zaiter, residing in Quito, Ecuador. According to the police report, evidence confirms the relationship between...

Theology of "Economic Jihad" Continues to Drive Fundraising for Terror

By Matthew Levitt

On 4 May 2005, the US Department of the Treasury designated its 400th terrorist or terror financier. Such blocking measures are effective counter-terrorism tools, freezing funds and shutting key nodes in the matrix of terror financing. For example, they force...

Treasury Designates PIJ Charity

By Matthew Levitt

Treasury Designates PIJ Charity The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated the Elehssan Society as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity yesterday, revealing that the society served as a charitable front for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). "Elehssan masquerades as a...

Abu Faraj al-Libbi Captured

By Matthew Levitt

Today, Pakistani authorities announced the capture of the third-ranking leader of al-Qaeda, a native Libyan named Abu Faraj al-Libbi (alias Dr. Taufeeq). Al-Libbi, along with five other foreign al-Qaeda operatives, was captured following a shootout in the village of Fatami...

Hiyari Designation Highlights Zarqawi's Jordanian Support Network

By Matthew Levitt

Today's designation of Bilal Hiyari as a terror financier supporting Abu Musab al Zarqawi should not surprise. Hiyari's activities have long been known, as have Zarqawi's operational and logistical activities in his home country, Jordan. For a detailed analysis of...

Palestinian Terrorists Going Political?

By Matthew Levitt

On March 28, Hamas formally announced they would join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The next day, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members attended the PLOs executive committee meeting in a move that could lead to their eventual entering the organization....

Annan Proposes International Definition of Terrorism

By Matthew Levitt

An indispensable part of UN secretary-general Kofi Annans recent report In Larger Freedom, which outlines much needed recommendations for the structure of the United Nations, was the call for an international definition of terrorism that encompasses all attacks on civilians....

"Constructive Instability" in Lebanon and Syria

By Matthew Levitt

The Bush Administrations policy of constructive instability in the Middle East is facing a critical juncture in Lebanon. Taking advantage of a rare confluence of events and international interests, President George W. Bush has focused U.S. efforts on one plank...

EU brands Hizballah "terrorist" group

By Matthew Levitt

The European Union Parliament passed a resolution today branding Hizballah as a terrorist group and affirming that the EU Council should take all necessary steps to curtail terrorist activities undertaken by Hizballah. While a step short of adding the group...

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY MINISTER OF ECONOMY TIED TO HAMAS?

By Matthew Levitt

On February 24, 2005, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) approved the new cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. Often described as technocratic and progressive, the cabinet is widely seen as fitting the Bush administration's requirement of being "untainted by...

Terror from Tehran

By Matthew Levitt

U.S. intelligence chiefs appearing before Congress last week in their annual statements on the state of the threat reiterated, as they have for many years, that Iran is the foremost state sponsor of terror. Indeed, the threat posed by Iranian-sponsored...

Touching the Hezbollah Nerve

By Matthew Levitt

Last week I wrote a Policywatch for The Washington Institute calling for the EU to ban Hezbollah (see Policywatch #958, Ban Hizballah in Europe). In response, Jihad al-Khazen, a senior editor and author of an opinion column with the Arabic...

COUNTERTERRORISM AND THE BUSH-EU MEETING

By Matthew Levitt

President Bush will visit Brussels next week and meet with leaders of the European Union (EU). While the Iranian nuclear program and the war in Iraq will undoubtedly be the top items on the agenda, counterterrorism is also certain to...

Testimony: Iranian State Sponsorship of Terror

By Matthew Levitt

CIA officials regularly describe Iran as the foremost state sponsor of terror. President Bush reaffirmed this assessment in his recent State of the Union address, saying, "Today, Iran remains the world's primary state sponsor of terror. And earlier this month,...

Ban Hezbollah in Europe

By Matthew Levitt

The recent assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in a massive car bombing in downtown Beirut highlights the need for increased attention to terrorism in Lebanon. Today, European Union (EU) officials have a perfect opportunity to do so...

PA Unfreezes Hamas Funds

By Matthew Levitt

Undersecretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey, who heads Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, is in the Middle East pressing for enhanced efforts to stem terrorist financing. Despite his recent meetings with Palestinian officials on the need to limit...

PA Warns of Hezbollah Threats

By Matthew Levitt

While U.S. and Israeli authorities have been warning of Hezbollah's increasing support for Palestinian terrorist groups for some time, the issue is suddenly getting serious attention because the Palestinians now concur. "We know that Hizballah has been trying to recruit...