[osint] Arab Bank Announces Withdrawal from the U.S.

[R.A. Hettinga]

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To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft at community-research.com>
Thread-Index: AcUQg90Ntm4eZXoQRjGRmZ+BhzYIgw==
From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft at community-research.com>
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Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:51:38 -0500
Subject: [osint] Arab Bank Announces Withdrawal from the U.S.
Reply-To: osint at yahoogroups.com



Arab Bank Announces Withdrawal from the U.S.


Yesterday Arab Bank PLC, Jordan's largest bank, announced that it intends to
withdraw from the United States. Arab Bank, which maintains a branch on
Madison Avenue, is currently under federal regulatory investigation,
reportedly for failing to abide by U.S. anti-money laundering laws. Arab
Bank also faces a flurry of allegations from over 800 U.S. and Israeli
victims of Palestinian terrorism who allege that the Arab Bank, including
specifically the New York branch, facilitated systematic payments to the
families of Palestinian suicide bombers and to HAMAS front organizations
(see prior
<http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/01/arab_ban
k_as_te.html>  post here). For purposes of full disclosure, I am serving as
Special Counsel to the largest such suit. In announcing the retreat, a
statement from Jordan's Central Bank said: "The climate of operating in the
United States at present is not expedient with the bank's strategy and
vision."

Unlike al Qaeda financing, the financing of the second intifada has been
conducted openly and in plain sight. According to the suits, much of the
money that moved through Arab Bank originated in Saudi Arabia, as part of an
organized undertaking known as the Saudi Committee in Support of the
Intifada Al Quds (later renamed the Saudi Committee for Relief of the
Palestinian People). The Saudi Committee helpfully posts its records
(updated through the Spring of 2002) on the web at www.alquds-saudi.org.

The web site even makes clear that contributions to the Saudi Committee are
sent via Arab Bank, and includes records of disbursements of approximately
$5300 each made to the families of numerous known terrorist operatives,
including, for example, suicide bombers responsible for the August 2001
attack on the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem and the June 2001 attack on the
Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv.

Those attacks killed or injured many innocent civilians, including scores of
Americans. According to the suits, payments knowingly made by and through
Arab Bank have provided an incentive for these and other acts of terrorism
since September 2000.

The payoffs are remarkable, as is the decision of the bank to withdraw from
the United States in a clear attempt to avoid further scrutiny and possible
massive liability. As Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY), the Vice-Chair of the House
Financial Services committee, stated: "Americans would be appalled by the
notion that the families of Al-Qaeda murderers were being rewarded through a
financial institution located in New York."

Ron Motley and Gary Osen, lead attorneys for Israeli and American victims,
respectively, yesterday said that they would take immediate steps to make
sure that relevant documents and records remain in the United States as Arab
Bank flees for safer jurisdictions.

The U.S. government should also take immediate steps to assure moral and
legal accountability for the financing of the second intifada as, we hope,
prospects for peace in the Middle East continue to improve and the terror of
the last four years recedes.

http://counterterror.typepad.com/



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'