Al-Qaida has money and recruits to strike again, U.N. draft report says

<br>UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ The al-Qaida terror network has the money and recruits to strike again whenever and wherever it wants because a global campaign and U.N. sanctions have failed to stop the financing

Friday, August 30th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ The al-Qaida terror network has the money and recruits to strike again whenever and wherever it wants because a global campaign and U.N. sanctions have failed to stop the financing and support for Osama bin Laden's backers, a U.N. draft report said Thursday.

Nearly a year after bin Laden's al-Qaida supporters struck the United States on Sept. 11, the report said the measures adopted by the international community have had a marked impact on al-Qaida, forcing it to ``reposition its assets and resources and to seek new recruits.''

But the global campaign against terrorism has not stopped al-Qaida from developing operational links with militant Islamic groups in Europe, North America, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia _ or from gaining new recruits and continuing to have access to millions of dollars and a wide variety of weapons, it said.

``Al-Qaida, despite the successful inroads made against it over recent months is, by all accounts `alive and well' and poised to strike again how, when and where it chooses,'' the draft report said.

Al-Qaida supporters have indicated the likely targets are the United States, its allies and Israel, it noted.

``Given the opportunity they will have no compunction in killing as many people as they can from those nations who do not conform to their religious and ideological beliefs and who they perceive as their enemies,'' the draft report said.

As a result, it said, all 189 U.N. member states need to redouble their efforts, both individually and collectively, ``to bring to bear every legal means possible to fight this scourge to international peace and security.''

The draft report was prepared by an expert group authorized by the U.N. Security Council to monitor U.N. sanctions. Under a council resolution adopted unanimously in January, all nations are required to freeze the finances and impose arms embargoes and travel bans on individuals and groups associated with bin Laden, al-Qaida, and the Taliban _ wherever they are in the world.

A total of 234 individuals and groups are currently on the U.N. list of those whose assets should be frozen. The United States and Italy said Thursday they want 11 individuals and 14 organizations with alleged ties to al-Qaida added to the list.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the draft report noted that hundreds of al-Qaida and Taliban operatives were detained and many more were sought and identified, but only a few were included on the U.N. list.

Despite initial successes after Sept. 11 in locating and freezing some $112 million in assets belonging to al-Qaida and its associates, it said only about $10 million has been frozen since January.

``Al-Qaida continues to have access to considerable financial and other economic resources,'' it said.

Citing information from government officials and other sources, the experts said al-Qaida is continuing to receive financial support from bin Laden's personal inheritance and investments, from its own members and supporters, and from contributions from charitable organizations.

Estimates of the value of the portfolio managed on behalf of bin Laden and al-Qaida by unidentified intermediaries range from $30 million to $300 million, the draft report said.

``The funds collected and disbursed by a number of Islamic based charities is proving particularly difficult for governments to monitor and regulate,'' it said.

The draft report called on states to exercise greater surveillance over the operation of charities and to make greater efforts to track down and close businesses and organizations supporting al-Qaida.

Many countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere have taken steps to tighten banking regulations and to trace and block financial transactions which has led al-Qaida to transfer much of its financial activities to Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the draft report said.

``Al-Qaida is believed to rely now even more heavily on hawala or other alternative remittance systems,'' it said, calling for increased vigilance of such transactions. Hawala refers to an informal network for transferring funds outside normal banking and government controls.

The draft report also calls for the U.N. list to be treated by all states as the authoritative list. It noted a reluctance by some countries to submit names of individuals and groups believed to be associated with al-Qaida.

The expert team said it was particularly concerned that five key individuals were not on the list: former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar; Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected chief organizer of the Sept. 11 attacks; Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Said Bahaji who are sought by Germany for complicity in the terror attacks and bin Laden's spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith.

It also expressed concern that 38 others arrested or detained for alleged ties to al-Qaida in Belgium, Canada, France, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Spain, Britain and the United States had not been submitted to the sanctions committee.