Saudi charity in tsunami region raises concerns

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- A powerful Saudi charity under scrutiny for alleged terrorist financing is expanding operations in tsunami-ravaged areas of Indonesia, importing a hard-line religious message that the West fears could spread extremist Islam in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

The presence of the International Islamic Relief Organization could complicate relief efforts in Indonesia, which is desperate for help but also under pressure to contain Islamic militants. Attacks have included nightclub bombings in 2002 that killed 202 people.

It also offers a high-profile test of Saudi promises to closely monitor its major aid societies. Many have faced probes as possible back channels for Islamic terrorist groups and vanguards for the kingdom's strict interpretation of Sunni Islam called Wahhabism.

The terrorism money trail is a central topic at an international counterterrorism conference wrapping up Tuesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

The International Islamic Relief Organization, or IIRO -- one of Saudi Arabia's biggest benevolent groups -- has been cleared of any possible terror links by Saudi auditors. But experts who study terrorist financing still raise questions about the group and its parent body, the Muslim World League, which is considered close to the Saudi royal family and propagates Wahhabist Islam around the globe.

"It's a concern when extremist ideologies gain a foothold in places like Indonesia," Juan Zarate, the assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the U.S. Treasury Department, said. "There is always the potential for the use of extremist ideologies to justify and support terrorist activities."

Many scholars consider Wahhabist beliefs part of the bedrock for Islamic extremism and a guiding force for the Saudi-born al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The Dec. 26 tsunami could offer Saudi-style Islam an opportunity to gain ground in Indonesia, where more moderate ideas of faith have dominated.

Suspected beneficiaries of IIRO funds in the past -- according to testimony from terrorist analysts before U.S. Senate subcommittees -- include the Palestinian faction Hamas, which has carried out most suicide bombings in Israel, and al-Qaida sympathizers in Kashmir, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The International Crisis Group, a global affairs watchdog, described the IIRO as mostly a "genuine charity" in a 2003 report. But, the report noted, the Saudi group has a questionable past in the region, including allegedly serving as "a cover" for al-Qaida operations in the Philippines, where it was once headed by bin Laden's brother-in-law, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa.

Victor Comras, a former member of a U.N. team monitoring al-Qaida, urged careful oversight to ensure tsunami aid doesn't drift into radical hands.

"I'm sure their motivations are to help," he said of the IIRO relief work in Indonesia. "But their fundamental purpose is to spread this version of Islam and one of the unintended consequences is the growth and spread of terrorism."

An envoy for the IIRO rejected any terrorist links. He described the main work in the tsunami zone as purely humanitarian: providing food, caring for orphans and rebuilding mosques -- drawing parallels with other faith-based aid groups such as Christian groups.

The group said there were no plans to bring in Islamic clerics from Saudi Arabia, but didn't rule out offering religious assistance in the future.

"At this time, they need relief not religion," Fahd Al Harbi told AP as he waited for the arrival of a top delegation from the Saudi Red Crescent Society in Banda Aceh, a hub of international aid groups. "In the future, if they need (religious-related help) we will provide it."

Al Harbi also insisted terrorism was deplored by the IIRO, which has been active in Indonesia since 1993 and spends about $1 million a year.

"(Critics) always accuse us of being a terrorist organization. But there is no evidence of this," Al Harbi said. "They will not find anything. We've never given money for anything but orphanages and for mosques."

At least one other Saudi-based charity, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, is active in Indonesia's devastated Ache province. The group has been accused by Israel of alleged financial links to Hamas. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, has called for a similar probe of the assembly's U.S. branch, which was once run by bin Laden's nephew Abdullah. The group denies any support for terrorist groups.

The Indonesian government has been critical of any attempts to mix aid and ideology. The country, with 220 million people, is the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Terrorism probes around the world have increasingly examined the possible interplay between militant cells and Muslim charities.

In New York, prosecutors suggested an Islamic charity was used as a conduit for money and logistics for the twin 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which claimed 224 lives. Four men were convicted in May 2001 for roles in the attack and given life sentences.

U.S.-based investigators temporarily froze assets of dozens of Muslim charity groups following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. A $1 trillion lawsuit filed by relatives of the Sept. 11 victims listed several charities among the defendants, including the Muslim World League and the IIRO Saudi organization. Both groups denied any links to the plotters.

U.S. authorities have been cautious to avoid stepping too hard on Saudi Arabia, one of the key allies in the region. Instead, Saudi leaders have been allowed to announce their own reforms -- including tighter controls on benevolent groups and statements against Islamic extremists.

But there's much less sway on curbing Saudi promotion of Wahhabism -- named after an 18th century scholar, Muhammad ibn Abdel-Wahhab, who encouraged a return to a "purified" form of the faith based on its original principles.

Radical Muslims have reinterpreted Wahhabism to justify hard-line beliefs and violence against perceived enemies of Islam.

Southeast Asia -- which had little contact with fundamentalist strains of Islam until the 1980s -- has found itself in recent years on the front lines of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

With Wahhabi Islam "you're basically teaching theology that is very close to jihad theology," said former U.N. investigator Comras. "There is a line that has been crossed and many have crossed that line."

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On the Net:

Terrorism Conference: http://www.ctic.org.sa/english.asp

International Islamic Relief Organization: http://www.arriyadh.com/English/organizations/charity--org/islamic--re lief--org .htm

World Assembly of Muslim Youth: http://www.wamy.co.uk

SAUDI CHARITY ENTERS POST-TSUNAMI AID OPERATION

RELIGIOUS PILLAR

Zakat, or almsgiving, is one of Islam's main tenets, and Muslims are encouraged to donate to the needy. It's the foundation of most Muslim charity groups and offers a steady funding source.

HOW MUCH?

More than 240 charity organizations operated in Saudi Arabia and abroad, receiving between $3 billion and $4 billion annually, according to congressional testimony in late 2003.

SAUDI CRACKDOWN

In October, the Saudi government ordered closure of a large charity -- Al-Haramain foundation -- accused by Washington of helping fund al-Qaida cells. The foundation denies the charges. Saudi leaders also have promised closer scrutiny of the spending and outreach of other charities.