FBI zeros in on Hamas fund-raising effort in U.S.

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is making a major push to track and disrupt fund raising that has sent millions of dollars from the United States to the Islamic militant group Hamas, officials say.

The effort predates Sept. 11 and stems from intelligence first developed in a 1998 investigation that uncovered a Hamas fund-raising operation in Chicago, the officials said.

Several FBI terrorist tracking units are engaged in the effort, and agents working with prosecutors are moving closer to building criminal cases against some of the U.S. players, officials told The Associated Press.

Their work so far points to an elaborate network of businesses and charities reaching from Texas to Detroit to New York, officials said.

"One of the things we are trying to do is to track the funding mechanism and flow and really try to eradicate an entire flow of money to Hamas," said Dennis Lormel, chief of the FBI's terrorist financial review group.

Hamas has claimed responsibility for some of the recent attacks against Israelis in the Middle East. Last month the spiritual leader of Hamas called on Muslims around the world to launch a holy war, or jihad, to liberate their countries from U.S. influence.

Officials say several suspected front companies are under intense scrutiny. Authorities have raided a handful of suspected Hamas supporters, such as the Holy Land Foundation in Richardson, Texas.

The foundation denies financing terrorism and has sued the government, claiming it has been falsely accused.

FBI memo

An FBI memo, used by the government to freeze Holy Land's assets and raid its office, claims a leader of the charity attended a mid-1990s event where $207,000 was raised for Hamas and the keynote speaker urged the crowd to "finish off the Israelis; kill them all."

Officials say their conservative estimate is that Hamas has raised several million dollars in the United States over the last decade.

They added, however, they have developed no evidence that Hamas has sent money back to fund terrorist strikes in America.

Officials said the investigation is complicated because the elaborate network of U.S.-based Muslim charities also engages in many legitimate humanitarian efforts, such as assisting Palestinians in refugee camps.

"If you really look at the services, some do a lot of good," Lormel said. "Then there are obvious monies that go to nefarious purposes. That commingling of a sort is a challenge for us."

Information developed during and after the Chicago case has resulted in the execution of several national security warrants permitting electronic intercepts of key suspects here and overseas, officials said.

The government used a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to gather information about the Chicago-based Global Relief Foundation before moving to freeze its assets.

The Muslim group has sued to contest the decision. Federal authorities have asked to be allowed to submit their evidence in secret so as not to compromise intelligence.

In several instances, the FBI and other U.S. agencies have decided to forgo arrests or indictments and instead have secretly disrupted Hamas activities so that agents could continue to monitor suspects and the flow of their money, officials said.

The officials said they have not made any connection between Hamas fund raising and Osama bin Laden's terrorist network or the Sept. 11 hijackers.

"No information has been uncovered, either before or after Sept. 11, that tied any of the 19 hijackers to the subjects and activities of the Chicago investigation," Assistant FBI Director John Collingwood said.

Separate investigations have identified some potential sources of U.S. money for al-Qaida, such as the al-Barakat network of money transfer stores that were raided by U.S. authorities last fall.