Contempt charges upheld against money jihadist

Amina Farah Ali, the terrorist financier who raised funds from fellow Somali-American Muslims to focus on “the Jihad,” refused to stand during the first two days of her trial.  The judge held her in contempt, and an appeals court told him to rethink his own decision.

He did, and he stood by it.  We need more of this.  Judge Davis is doing future judges a favor when more Muslim Somalis are inevitably exposed and prosecuted for using charity as a cover to fund al-Shabaab terrorists.  We cannot accept the precedent of allowing criminal jihadists to deny the authority of the U.S. legal system.

From the Associated Press:

Judge reinstates contempt charges for Somali woman who didn’t stand during terror trial

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minnesota reinstated contempt charges Tuesday for a Somali woman who cited religious beliefs when she refused to stand for the court during the first two days of her high-profile terrorism trial last year.

Amina Farah Ali was convicted last fall of funneling money to terror group al-Shabab in Somalia, though she claimed she was raising money for charity. She is in a halfway house awaiting sentencing on 13 terror-related counts, including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

During the first two days of her trial, she refused to stand 20 times when those in the courtroom were ordered to rise. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis found her in contempt each time and sentenced her to a total of 100 days.

But the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated 19 of Ali’s contempt charges in June and sent the issue back to Davis to reconsider, saying he must determine whether his order to stand was the least restrictive way to keep order in the courtroom. The appeals court said Davis had to balance the need for order while avoiding placing “substantial burdens on sincere religious practices.”

On Tuesday, Davis ruled that Ali was in contempt. He reinstated all the charges against her, but purged her 100-day sentence.

Davis said that because of the heightened publicity in the case — the courtroom was filled with spectators during most of the trial — the court took extra measures to ensure order.

Extra security officers were on hand throughout the trial, cellphones were ordered to be turned off, signs about courtroom rules were posted in the hall in English and Somali, and one room outside the courtroom was set aside for Muslims who wanted to pray.

He also said he reached out to elders and leaders of the Somali community and told them he would be insisting on order in his court. He said he believed those elders intervened when a group of men in the gallery chose not to stand at one point, and the issue was resolved.

Davis added that he spent a lot of time talking about Ali’s religious beliefs, and pulled her aside so she and the attorneys could talk to him out of the public’s earshot. He said when Ali changed her mind and chose to stand on the third day of her trial, it showed her beliefs could change.

Her attorney had argued that under Ali’s interpretation of Islam, she felt she “should not rise for persons when she does not rise for the prophet.” But she began standing after she was visited in jail by clerics who told her she could stand if she were in a difficult position.

Ali and her co-defendant, Hawo Hassan, were among 20 people charged in Minnesota’s long-running federal investigations into recruiting and financing for al-Shabab, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group with ties to al-Qaida…

Time Magazine: IRGC strengthened by sanctions

We are seeing a similar pattern with the sanctions regime against Iran that we saw with Iraq:  the sanctions harm the economy broadly and make the population of the country more reliant on the dictatorial regime itself.

This new video from Time shows the observations of the magazine’s diplomatic correspondent who reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has become stronger and more respected within Iran:

The sanctions were supposed to stop Iran’s nuclear program.  But it appears to be backfiring and stiffening Iranian spines.

Spending our way to extinction

Ran across this graphic recently uploaded to a website called Meme Generator:

This would be a great postcard to send to Hillary Clinton.

If we offer money to the Taliban to reconcile with Hamid Karzai, wouldn’t that make us terrorist financiers?  If we fund rebels in Libya, and they turn around and assassinate our ambassador, does that mean we funded a terror attack?  If we expend foreign aid for the Palestinian Authority that is transferred to Gaza, aren’t we enriching Hamas?  If we open the floodgates of aid to Syrian insurgents who include Al Qaeda, does that mean we’re bankrolling Al Qaeda?

Yup.

Sudan’s new refinery a golden goose?

Times have been tough for Sudan ever since it played host to Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s.  That hospitality brought Sudan a U.S. designation as a state sponsor of terror.  Sanctions against the Islamist regime have been ratcheted up since then, except that humanitarian assistance has been authorized, and the sanctions don’t apply to the newly formed South Sudan which broke away from Sudan proper.

Three-quarters of Sudan’s oil resources are now located in South Sudan, and U.S. sanctions against doing business with Sudan’s oil sector are tough.  For those reasons, Khartoum has pursued other sources of revenue, and is hoping that a brand new refinery will enable the country to sell $3 billion of gold next year.

From Reuters on Sept. 19:

Sudan opens first gold refinery to boost exports

Sudan opened its first gold refinery on Wednesday as it seeks to improve the quality of its rising gold exports and offset the economic damage inflicted by the loss of most of its oil revenues.

The country is increasing its gold production after losing three quarters of its oil output when South Sudan became independent in July last year.

The government hopes the new refinery in the capital Khartoum will help it to produce gold to international standards and reduce the amount of gold smuggling to overseas markets such as Dubai. Producers would receive more money for the higher-quality gold, thereby reducing the incentive to smuggle.

The refinery will have a daily production capacity of 900kg of gold and 200kg of silver, its head Mohamed Osman al-Zubeir said at the opening ceremony. This more than doubles the previous forecast for the refinery’s annual gold capacity, to 328 tonnes from 150 tonnes Sudan hopes to sell gold worth up to $3 billion this year, double last year’s gold revenue. Central bank governor Mohamed Kheir al-Zubeir told said on Wednesday that had sold 58 tonnes of gold worth $2.6 billion over the past 16 months.

There are several obstacles to Sudan’s goal:  first, gold smuggling to Beirut, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai is apparently commonplace.  Second, gold industry standards and trade associations probably prohibit the importation of gold from designated conflict zones such as Sudan (think “Blood Diamonds”) even in cases where particular governments may allow it.  Third,

Sheikh: preventing terror finance violates rights

Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulrahman Al-Hussein, formerly the chief of the presidency of Saudi Arabia’s two holy mosques and a member of the Senior Ulema Council, has written a 1,600 word opinion piece in the Arab News defending the transfer of funds overseas through “charity” from Saudi Arabia.  Hussein asserts that such “charity” is a personal freedom and human right.

In the piece, Sheikh Saleh Hussein slams a 2003 U.S. congressional hearing, which he claims had no facts, just emotional smears, about Saudi charities involved in financing terror.  He blames that hearing, subsequent arm twisting at the United Nations, and traitorous reporting by local Gulf journalists, for giving Saudi Arabia a bad reputation as the world’s terror financial hub.

If the evidence of Saudi perfidy is all based on false or exaggerated rhetoric, can the sheikh please explain the following events?

• Why the Saudi International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) branch in the Philippines, which was designated by the U.S. as a terrorist entity, was founded by Osama Bin Laden’s brother-in-law, Muhammad Jamal Khalifah—a senior Al Qaeda leader?
• Why Saudi Arabia conceded that Al Haramain (a charity that operated under the control of the government of Saudi Arabia) branches in Bosnia, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Pakistan were terrorist entities?
• Why the former head of Al Haramain in the U.S. was convicted last year to 33 months in prison for funding jihad in Chechnya?
• Why the founder of Saudi Arabia’s largest private bank (and the Sunni world’s largest sharia bank) was named in the infamous “Golden Chain” list of 20 financial benefactors of Al Qaeda, and why Saudi Arabia has resisted all legal attempts to access his bank’s records?
• Why Saudi Arabia sponsors telethons to raise money for suicide bombers?
• Why the chief of the Bangladeshi terrorist organization JMB says his funding sources include the Saudi-based Muslim World League and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth?
• Why the Saudi government continues to award public contracts to the Bin Laden family for construction projects?

Oh, and one more question.  Sheikh Hussein concludes his commentary by invoking a verse from the eighth chapter of the Koran (“The Spoils”), a sura which addresses taking the spoils of war from conquered infidels.  If the sheikh is truly interested in defending the principle of charity toward the poor, this is a quite remarkable passage to select!

Iran steels itself for comeback

Are Western financial authorities taking their eye off the ball by focusing sanctions on Iran’s oil?  According to the monthly investor newsletter from Turquoise Partners, Iran is boosting its steel production, and is set to receive a 65 million euro loan from the notorious Islamic Development Bank to expand coal mining in southeast Iran.

Be warned that the Iranian theocracy can use revenues from these sectors not just to diversify their economy, but to help buoy their budget, sustain their jackbooted regime, and fund their nuclear aspirations.

From the latest edition of “Iran Investment Monthly”:

Iran the 15th largest steel producer

According to the World Steel Association, Iran’s crude steel output totaled 7.36 million tons in the first quarter of 2012 and the country was ranked the 15th largest steel producer in the world and the second in the Middle East after Turkey…

Despite global economic sanctions, the country’s steel output increased by 5 million tons during the past two years reaching to 17 million tons…

A EUR 65 million loan to Iranian Mining Sector

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will be granting a EUR 65 million loan in order to equip Khamroud coal mines in Zarand, Kerman province. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, the issuance of this letter of guarantee by the ministry means that the project has entered its administrative phase. Total funding requirements to equip these coal mines is around EUR 100 million, and the remaining EUR 35 million will be financed through local partners. There are 30 million tons of coal coke in Khamroud mines; through development of this project, some 750 thousand tons of raw coal and 400 thousand tons of coal concentrate can be extracted from these mines over a four year period. A report by IMIDRO indicates that extraction of these reserves can ultimately continue for a 22 year period. The project itself will create 1000 direct and 5000 indirect jobs.

Iran has so far obtained $2.2 billion in loans from the IDB and the country’s major infrastructure projects have been funded partially through the financial assistance of this bank. IDB is a multilateral development financing institution located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia…

Readers should also take a look at Shariah Finance Watch’s prior coverage of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).  It is fitting that IDB would be active in Iran given the Islamic Republic’s deep involvement and experience with sharia finance.

Hezbollah credit card fraudster re-arrested

Rafic Labboun, a.k.a. Wilhelm Dick, has been arrested with fellow Hezbollah operatives in the Yucutan peninsula, Mexico.  Labboun had previously been convicted in federal court for a $100,000 credit card scheme.  Take a listen to the report from CBS radio’s San Francisco affiliate:

An imam no less!  Who would know better Islam’s call to defraud the West of its wealth for the cause of jihad?

By the way, isn’t this further evidence of Hezbollah’s presence in Mexico?

Islamic charity gun-running for Syrian rebels

The Turkish Islamic charity IHH is sending guns and money to Syrian rebels according to the Jewish Chronicle.  It’s just the latest in a long series of partnership with violent Islamist groups:  in addition its role in the Gaza flotilla, IHH has been banned by Germany for funding Hamas, and IHH has worked cooperatively with al-Shabaab in Somalia.

IHH is proving to be very similar to Hamas and Hezbollah.  It uses its widespread charitable endeavors as cover for militant, jihadist objectives.

From TGMDBR on Sept. 16:

Turkish IHH Involved In Gun Running To Syria?

Jewish media in the U.K. is reporting that the IHH, a Turkish charity tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and sponsor of the June 2010 Gaza flotilla that was involved in a violent altercation with Israeli naval forces, may be involved in transporting weapons to Syria on behalf of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. According to a Jewish Chronicle report:

There is evidence to suggest that IHH, the Islamic charity that helped organise the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, has been involved in gun-running to Syria on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood. Free Syrian Army commanders have told The Times that a boat containing weapons that docked in Syria this week was registered to members of the IHH, which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Samar Srewel, an FSA activist who had helped to organise the consignment, told The Times: ‘It was clear from that second what was happening. The Muslim Brotherhood, through its ties in Turkey, was seizing control of this ship and the cargo. This is what they do. They buy influence with their money and guns.’ In Syria, rebel groups that have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood are said to have the best weapons and equipment. About a quarter of the 130 members of the Syrian National Council have links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

A post from June reported that the President of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) was being investigated for allegedly financing al-Qaeda through his organization.

Iran attempts cyber strike at U.S. financial firm

Last year, Ayatollah Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised that the new Iranian year would be “A Year of Economic Jihad.”  Now we have a better understanding of what they meant.

The Washington Free Beacon (h/t Rantburg) is reporting that Iran launched a failed cyber attack against a major U.S. financial institution:

The Iranian government recently conducted a major cyber attack on a major U.S. financial institution that a military intelligence report said is a sign Tehran is waging covert war against the West.

The cyber attack was not successful but was one of several Iranian-backed electronic strikes detected in recent months that highlights the growing threat from Tehran, a major backer of international terrorism, according to a recent report by the Joint Staff intelligence directorate, known as J-2.

“Iran’s cyber aggression should be viewed as a component, alongside efforts like support for terrorism, to the larger covert war Tehran is waging against the west,” the report, dated Sept. 14, concluded.

Iran’s hostile posture against the United States is well known. However, the Joint Staff J-2’s hawkish assessment of the Iranian threat contrasts sharply with the more conciliatory policies of the Obama administration, a defense official familiar with the report said. For Pentagon’s J-2 to acknowledge in the internal report that a covert war is underway was unusual, the official added.

Since 2009, the administration has avoided supporting the Iranian opposition groups that took to the streets to opposed rigged elections. The administration also opposes a near-term Israeli military strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities favoring instead the use of economic sanctions, which critics say have not slowed Iran’s drive to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported earlier this month that Iran is building up stockpiles of enriched uranium and continues to stonewall the U.N. nuclear watchdog on its nuclear arms-related work.

No other details were available on the previously undisclosed attempted Iranian financial cyber attack…

Also recall that author Kevin Freeman has said that leading up to the 2008 financial collapse, the NASDAQ was hacked, that Lehman Brothers was a financial target of terrorists, that German intelligence has reported financial terrorism activities since then, and that damaging the credit of Western nations was an objective of Osama Bin Laden shortly before his death.

Peace in our time… if the price is right

The Taliban is willing to accept truce with the government of Afghanistan contingent on the replacement of U.S. military presence with U.S. “economic assistance,” according to a report published this month describing interviews of Taliban leaders conducted by the Royal United Services Institute.

Can you imagine the pain that the 9/11 victims’ families would endure if their tax dollars were spent on foreign aid to a Karzai-Taliban coalition government?  It is outrageous that our government would even consider negotiations under terms floated in the RUSI interviews.

U.K. reviews Islamic charity for Boko Haram ties

Britain’s charity regulator is looking into whether the London-based Al Muntada Trust is the same entity that Nigerian authorities say is funding the radical Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.  At least one member of the House of Lords believes there is evidence to justify the investigation.

But don’t get your hopes up for positive identification by the Charity Commission—the same entity that whitewashed the links between the British Islamic charity Muslim Aid and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.

From the Third Sector on Sept. 10:

Charity Commission examines terror funding allegation

The Charity Commission is trying to establish the identity of a charity linked to allegations of funding the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram.

A commission statement said it was aware of claims made in The Observer that a charity called the Al-Muntada Trust has given financial support to Boko Haram, which has links to the terrorist group Al Qaeda and is connected with attacks against churches and Christians in Nigeria.

A spokeswoman for the Charity Commission said it was trying to establish which particular charity the allegations concerned.

“The commission is aware there may be some concerns with regards to an organisation entitled ‘Al-Muntada Trust Fund’ and specifically allegations that this organisation has provided financial support to the Nigerian group, Boko Haram,” she said.

“There are a number of registered charities with a similar name to this organisation. The commission is not able to confirm at this stage whether or not this relates directly to a UK-registered charity.”

There are two organisations on the Charity Commission register called the Al-Muntada Al Islamia Trust and the Al-Muntada Al-Islami Trust. Neither could be contacted by Third Sector for comment.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the allegations, but there was no criminal investigation under way.

“We are aware of the information and are in close contact with the Charity Commission, who are assessing it,” she said. “Should any allegations of criminal offences come to light we would investigate.”

Boko Haram has also been known to finance its activities through bank robbery, which they have some basis for believing  is permissible under Islamic law.