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Global Relief Foundation
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Global Relief Foundation
The Global Relief Foundation (GRF), also known as Foundation Secours Mondial (FSML), was an Islamic charity based in Bridgeview, Illinois, until it was raided and shut down on December 14, 2001, and listed among the "Designated Charities and Potential Fundraising Front Organizations for Foreign Terrorist Organizations" ("DCPFFOFTO") by the United States Treasury Department in 2002. According to the US Treasury, "The Global Relief Foundation (GRF) … and its officers and directors have connections to, and have provided support for and assistance to, Osama bin Laden (OBL), al Qaeda (aQ), and other known terrorist groups (OKTG)." It was one of the few organizations registered with the Taliban.
GRF described itself as a not-for profit (NFP), non-governmental organization (NGO) established to provide humanitarian and charitable relief to Muslims in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir, and Lebanon. In addition to undertaking charitable work, however, GRF served as an organization issuing propaganda for global jihad. The magazine, Al Thilal, published by the GRF, did not spread messages of a humanitarian organization but rather served as anti-American and Anti-Semitic propaganda, calling for jihad throughout the world, especially in Palestine, Bosnia, and Kashmir.
The GRF began operations in the United States as a tax-exempt, non-profit, charitable organization in 1992 and quickly became the largest Islamic charity in the U.S. The organization initially had a budget of $700,000. By the end of the 1990s GRF was reporting $5 million in annual donations, and 90% of that money was shipped abroad. Some materials distributed by GRF at this time glorify martyrdom through jihad and state that donations will be used to support the Mujahedin. GRF had overseas offices in Islamabad, Pakistan; Brussels, Belgium; Sarajevo, Bosnia; Zagreb, Croatia; and Baku, Azerbaijan.
The FBI started investigating GRF prior to 9/11 on the basis that it supported radical Islamic interests like that of al-Qaeda. In 2000, FBI agents found that while a majority of the funding from GRF goes to legitimate relief organizations, a significant amount goes to terrorist groups like the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya, and Kashmiri Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami in addition to Al-Qaeda. The FBI reported that there were two types of donors to GRF, those that thought they were donating to humanitarian causes and a select few who knew that the purpose of their donations was to support global jihad. After 9/11, the U.S. Government froze GRF's assets and started a criminal investigation into its activities; the government arrested and ultimately deported GRF's chief executive, Rabih Haddad.
The FBI and Treasury Department have asserted links between Global Chevra Foundation founder Rabih Haddad and Makhtab al-Khidamat. Makhtab al-Khidamat was founded by Osama bin Laden's mentor Abdullah Azzam. In 2002, it was reported that Nabil Sayadi, the group's European director, was "a close collaborator" with Wadih el-Hage.
Wadih el-Hage is alleged to have been a personal aide to Osama bin Laden, who was convicted of involvement in the American embassy bombings.
Sayadi claimed that El-Hage had approached the foundation about funding a malaria abatement program in Africa, which was refused as it was out of the foundation's scope. Sayadi maintains that any contact with El-Hage was "absolutely innocent."
Haddad was arrested by the INS on immigration charges when the group's offices were raided, and later deported to Lebanon. Lawyers representing the organisation accused the US government of a "disregard for civil rights and constitutional rights" in the wake of 9/11 and believed the connection between Global Relief and terrorism to be "weak", criticised the "guilty by association" policy and the use of "secret evidence rules" granted under the Patriot Act. Supporters of the foundation claimed that it was unfairly targeted, denied due process and closed before any evidence linking it to terrorism had been produced.
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Global Relief Foundation
The Global Relief Foundation (GRF), also known as Foundation Secours Mondial (FSML), was an Islamic charity based in Bridgeview, Illinois, until it was raided and shut down on December 14, 2001, and listed among the "Designated Charities and Potential Fundraising Front Organizations for Foreign Terrorist Organizations" ("DCPFFOFTO") by the United States Treasury Department in 2002. According to the US Treasury, "The Global Relief Foundation (GRF) … and its officers and directors have connections to, and have provided support for and assistance to, Osama bin Laden (OBL), al Qaeda (aQ), and other known terrorist groups (OKTG)." It was one of the few organizations registered with the Taliban.
GRF described itself as a not-for profit (NFP), non-governmental organization (NGO) established to provide humanitarian and charitable relief to Muslims in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir, and Lebanon. In addition to undertaking charitable work, however, GRF served as an organization issuing propaganda for global jihad. The magazine, Al Thilal, published by the GRF, did not spread messages of a humanitarian organization but rather served as anti-American and Anti-Semitic propaganda, calling for jihad throughout the world, especially in Palestine, Bosnia, and Kashmir.
The GRF began operations in the United States as a tax-exempt, non-profit, charitable organization in 1992 and quickly became the largest Islamic charity in the U.S. The organization initially had a budget of $700,000. By the end of the 1990s GRF was reporting $5 million in annual donations, and 90% of that money was shipped abroad. Some materials distributed by GRF at this time glorify martyrdom through jihad and state that donations will be used to support the Mujahedin. GRF had overseas offices in Islamabad, Pakistan; Brussels, Belgium; Sarajevo, Bosnia; Zagreb, Croatia; and Baku, Azerbaijan.
The FBI started investigating GRF prior to 9/11 on the basis that it supported radical Islamic interests like that of al-Qaeda. In 2000, FBI agents found that while a majority of the funding from GRF goes to legitimate relief organizations, a significant amount goes to terrorist groups like the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya, and Kashmiri Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami in addition to Al-Qaeda. The FBI reported that there were two types of donors to GRF, those that thought they were donating to humanitarian causes and a select few who knew that the purpose of their donations was to support global jihad. After 9/11, the U.S. Government froze GRF's assets and started a criminal investigation into its activities; the government arrested and ultimately deported GRF's chief executive, Rabih Haddad.
The FBI and Treasury Department have asserted links between Global Chevra Foundation founder Rabih Haddad and Makhtab al-Khidamat. Makhtab al-Khidamat was founded by Osama bin Laden's mentor Abdullah Azzam. In 2002, it was reported that Nabil Sayadi, the group's European director, was "a close collaborator" with Wadih el-Hage.
Wadih el-Hage is alleged to have been a personal aide to Osama bin Laden, who was convicted of involvement in the American embassy bombings.
Sayadi claimed that El-Hage had approached the foundation about funding a malaria abatement program in Africa, which was refused as it was out of the foundation's scope. Sayadi maintains that any contact with El-Hage was "absolutely innocent."
Haddad was arrested by the INS on immigration charges when the group's offices were raided, and later deported to Lebanon. Lawyers representing the organisation accused the US government of a "disregard for civil rights and constitutional rights" in the wake of 9/11 and believed the connection between Global Relief and terrorism to be "weak", criticised the "guilty by association" policy and the use of "secret evidence rules" granted under the Patriot Act. Supporters of the foundation claimed that it was unfairly targeted, denied due process and closed before any evidence linking it to terrorism had been produced.