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| Arabia |
| Saudi al-Qaeda is in big with the drug trade |
| 2005-04-15 |
| An April 11, 2005, Saudi press report documented the exportation and use of drugs by members of al-Qaeda in incidents that occurred over the past year. The London-based Arabic paper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported strong ties between a Saudi al-Qaeda cell and the international drug network. The group, which organized the killings in al-Jofi, used the drug called "hashish." The report said that this was not an isolated incident. "This is not the first time a connection between al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and the drug trade has been revealed." Another drug-related incident took place July 5, 2003, when "the Canadian of Kuwaiti origin, Abdul Rahman Jabara was killed, along with Turki al-Dandani, who blew them up. Found on the men were 13,000 riyals and fake documents, some of which were drug proceeds for the group, especially, Turki al-Dandani. Pills were found in his pockets during the search. An analysis of his corpse showed that he was consuming this kind of drug. The newspaper report also said that al-Qaeda's drug ties are not confined to Saudi Arabia. "It is said that many al-Qaeda members and their supporters were trained in Afghanistan, one of the biggest drug-producing countries of in the world. According to some statistics, Iran confiscates about 200 tons of drugs every year at its borders. In Afghanistan, half of the Taliban government's budget was dependent on drug money." Some al-Qaeda members believe that exporting drugs hurts the West. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Golly ... just like the idealists of the IRA! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-04-15 7:36:01 AM |