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Thailand,
Not Malaysia Transit Point For Terror Funds
By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Asia Correspondent
JAKARTA, March 11 (IslamOnline) - Thailand's police said Monday
several terrorist organizations are using Thailand, not Malaysia as
a transit point to funnel money from international donors.
They say foreign nationals are pouring in Thailand to raise terror
funds that are channeled through local banks to destinations in the
US, Europe and Asia.
Thai police arrested Thursday 25 foreign nationals in Bangkok after
receiving information from the United States.
The police said there was reason to believe some of the suspects had
funneled money sent from supporters worldwide to their groups
overseas.
Among those arrested, M. A. Hussein of Pakistan is suspected of
helping to forge passports for members of the Al-Qaeda network.
Meanwhile, police in Thailand believed the other suspects -
nationals of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iran - also had links with
terrorist groups.
A source told the Bangkok Post newspaper that Hussein, who was
allegedly unaware the documents were to be used by members of
Al-Qaeda, was paid US$1000 for each of the forged passports.
However, a Southern Thai businessman, Sheikh Khaleq, said many of
those arrested were businessmen involved in different trade in
Thailand.
He rejected the accusations that foreign Nationals were channeling
money to terror bases abroad, adding that the US is showing that it
is now targeting Muslim businesses worldwide.
Khaleq, who deals in honey and local handicrafts that he sells to
Malaysia, said it was obvious that any Muslims dealing in honey,
gold, and precious stones are tagged as pro-Al-Qaeda members.
On the other hand Malaysian authorities are yet to reveal if their
probe into the activities of suspected companies and individuals, a
list of which was sent to the Malaysian government from the US, had
given any concrete results.
As of this week, there are no confirmations that the accounts being
probed are linked to any terror organizations, lest the Al-Qaeda.
The Malaysian government has ordered the Central Bank in Malaysia,
the Bank Negara, to monitor the accounts of some companies and
individuals, which the U.S. thinks is linked to Osama bin Laden's
alleged terror network.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia said he firmly believed
Malaysia is not the country that has been used by terror suspects to
finance operations abroad. He said Malaysia is terror free and has
nothing to do with Bin Laden's networks.
Malaysia is a Muslim country with 60 percent of the population
following Islam. It has 25 million people according to recent
population census.
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