http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4 <http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=89890&d=12&m=12&y=2006> §ion=0&article=89890&d=12&m=12&y=2006
IIRO Slams Manila Court's Decision to Freeze Accounts P.K. Abdul Ghafour & Julie Javellana-Santos, Arab News JEDDAH/MANILA, 12 December 2006 - The Saudi-based International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) criticized yesterday the action taken by a Philippine court, freezing bank account of its branch in Manila reportedly at the request of the United States, saying the biased action was taken in the light of baseless allegations against the organization. Court of Appeals officials in Manila said yesterday that it froze the accounts of the Saudi charity on suspicion of being a conduit for terrorist funds. They said anti-money laundering officials suspected the IIRO of financing the activities of local affiliates of the Al-Qaeda network, including the Abu Sayyaf group. "These are baseless allegations," said IIRO Secretary-General Adnan Khalil Basha. "We don't support any terrorist group. Our relief activities are transparent. There is no room for suspicion." He said he was not aware of any court case against the IIRO and would contact his officials in the Philippines today to know the details. The appellate court last week handed down a 20-day writ on the funds deposited at the Bank of the Philippine Islands, said the ruling written by Associate Justice Arcangelita Lontok, which was made public only yesterday. The Anti-Money Laundering Council, which is led by the central bank, described the IIRO as one of Saudi Arabia's largest charitable organizations. The court freeze was sought by the United States, it added. Basha denounced the move to link IIRO with terrorism. "These actions are aimed at preventing Islamic relief activities around the world," he told Arab News. He said IIRO's account in the Manila bank was frozen, adding that they were not able to transfer any money to that account. IIRO runs an orphanage in Mindanao, in the south of the Philippines. Asked about IIRO's plan to counter terror-funding allegations, he said: "We'll go ahead with our relief activities more aggressively. We'll also take legal action against those who make false accusations." Basha explained the measures taken by the IIRO to ensure transparency of its activities and prevent its funds falling into the hands of terrorist organizations. "We transfer funds only to local official banks," he said. "Chartered accountants have been appointed to verify accounts. Local recruitment of staff is made only after receiving police clearance. We make sure that our employees do not belong to any local political party or hidden groups." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
