| I think a just-lit light bulb would be a good pic for this story. |
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - A powerful Saudi charity under scrutiny for alleged terrorist financing is expanding operations in tsunami-ravaged areas of Indonesia, importing a hard-line religious message that the West fears could spread extremist Islam in the world's most populous Muslim nation. The presence of the International Islamic Relief Organization could complicate relief efforts in Indonesia, which is desperate for help but also under pressure to contain Islamic militants after suffering attacks blamed on militants in the past three years that killed more than 200 people.
It also offers a high-profile test of Saudi promises to closely monitor its major aid societies. Many have faced probes as possible back channels for Islamic terrorist groups and vanguards for the kingdom's strict interpretation of Sunni Islam called Wahhabism. The terrorism money trail is a central topic at an international counterterrorism conference wrapping up on Tuesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Delegates from more than 50 nations are expected, including the United States, Iran, many Arab nations and Indonesia.
The International Islamic Relief Organization, or IIRO - one of Saudi Arabia's biggest benevolent groups - has been cleared of any possible terror links by Saudi investigators are still studying possible IIRO connections to the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah - blamed for the Bali nightclub blasts in 2002 that killed 202 people and the bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003 that killed 12 people.
Comras urged careful oversight to ensure tsunami aid doesn't drift into radical hands. "I'm sure their motivations are to help guns, ammo and explosives," he said of the IIRO relief work in Indonesia. "But their fundamental purpose is to spread this version of Islam and one of the unintended consequences is the growth and spread of terrorism."
An envoy for the IIRO rejected any terrorist links. He described the main work in the tsunami zone as purely humanitarian: providing food, caring for orphans and rebuilding mosques - drawing parallels with other faith-based aid groups such as Christian groups.
| "Of course, those guys we have to kill, but otherwise we act just like them!" |
The group said there was no plans to bring in Islamic clerics from Saudi Arabia, but didn't rule out offering religious assistance in the future. "At this time, they need relief not religion," Fahd Al Harbi told AP as he waited for the arrival of a top delegation from the Saudi Red Crescent Society in Banda Aceh, a hub for international aid groups. "In the future, if they need (religious-related help) we will provide it."
| "And if they don't, we'll still provide it." |
Al Harbi also insisted terrorism was deplored by the IIRO, which has been active in Indonesia since 1993 and spends about US$1 million a year. "(Critics) always accuse us of being a terrorist organization. But there is no evidence of this," Al Harbi said. "They will not find anything. We've never given money for anything but orphanages and for mosques."
| And for what's inside the mosques. |
At least one other Saudi-based charity, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, is active in Indonesia's devastated Ache province. The group has been accused by Israel of alleged financial links to Hamas. US Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, has called for a similar probe of the assembly's US branch, which was once run by bin Laden's nephew Abdullah. The group denies any support for terrorist groups.
| Cheez, is there any major Muslim 'charity' that hasn't been linked to terror? |
Terrorism probes around the world have increasingly examined the possible interplay between militant cells and Muslim charities. In New York, prosecutors suggested an Islamic charity was used as a conduit for money and logistics for the twin 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which claimed 224 lives. Four men were convicted in May 2001 for roles in the attack and given life sentences.
US-based investigators temporarily froze assets of dozens of Muslim charity groups following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. A US$1 trillion (Ã777 billion) lawsuit filed by relatives of the Sept. 11 victims listed several charities among the defendants, including the Muslim World League and the IIRO Saudi organization. Both groups denied any links to the plotters.
US authorities have been cautious to avoid stepping too hard on Saudi Arabia, one of the key allies in the region. Instead, Saudi leaders have been allowed to announce their own reforms - including tighter controls on benevolent groups and statements against Islamic extremists.
But there's much less sway on curbing Saudi promotion of Wahhabism - named after an 18th century scholar, Muhammad ibn Abdel-Wahhab, who encouraged a return to a "purified" form of the faith based on its original principles. Radical Muslims have reinterpreted Wahhabism to justify hard-line beliefs and violence against perceived enemies of Islam. With Wahhabi Islam "you're basically teaching theology that is very close to jihad theology," said former U.N. investigator Comras. "There is a line that has been crossed and many have crossed that line." |