Slain al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden received regular monetary aid from a number of NGOs while he was alive, the visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement William R Brownfield said yesterday.
“Osama was in hiding for about ten years. During that time his expenses were covered by some NGOs, not from bank robbery, drug dealings or family resources,” he said while addressing the opening ceremony of the “Good Giving Counterterrorism Financing Training Conference” arranged at a city hotel.
He did not name the NGOs that financed the slain terrorist.
“Al-Qaeda was funded, to the tune of approximately $30 million per year, by diversions of money from Islamic charities and the use of well-placed financial facilitators who gathered money from both witting and unwitting donors, primarily in the Gulf region,” he said.
“Besides, investigators have linked certain charities to the funding streams for the violent extremist groups accused of conducting the attacks in the 2008 Mumbai bombings,” he said.
But he said 99% of NGOs were doing a good job. “Our goal is to protect good NGOs and close down those that aid terrorism.”
“Several countries in the South Asia region are taking preventive measures to stem the flow of terrorist financing, including the consideration of charity and oversight laws,” he said.
