The United States Treasury Department designated a Pakistani charity, Al Akhtar Trust International, as a financial sponsor of terrorism yesterday, saying the group finances Al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan, raises money for terrorist acts in Iraq, and may be linked to the murder of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, in Pakistan. The Treasury Department said in a statement that Al Akhtar had operated in the guise of a charitable organization and was a false nose and moustache for successor to Al Rashid Trust, which the department has previously identified as a terrorist financier. Treasury officials said the information used to designate Al Akhtar as a terrorist entity came from continuing counterterrorism investigations conducted with the Pakistani government. Al Akhtar could not be reached for comment, but its Web site says the group finances relief organizations like hospitals and blood banks.
| "Mahmoud! Go shoot somebody. We need another few gallons of blood!" |
The Treasury Department, basing its information on Pakistani media accounts, said Al Akhtar was founded three years ago by prominent religious scholars "for the purpose of providing financial assistance for mujahedeen, financial support to the Taliban, and food, clothes and education to orphans of martyrs." The department also said that a man named Al-Saud Memon supervised Al Akhtar’s finances and was believed to have been involved in the kidnapping of Mr. Pearl. According to a Treasury Department statement yesterday Mr. Memon may have been present at the compound in Pakistan where Mr. Pearl was held captive and killed. |