"U.S. allegations are more political than legal," Abu-Marzuk told IslamOnline

By Hani Mohamed, IOL Staff

CAIRO, December 23 (IslamOnline) –Dr. Mussa Abu-Marzuk, vice president of the political bureau of the Islamic movement Hamas, said that the United States’ failing security policies and its worry about the positive Cairo talks between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement and Hamas are the real reasons behind U.S. terror accusations against himself.

Abu-Marzuk was charged by a federal grand jury in Dallas, Texas, with conspiring to violate laws that prohibit dealing in 'terrorist' funds.

"U.S. allegations are more political than legal," he said in an interview with IslamOnline Sunday, December 22.

The case stems from the arrests in the United States of four brothers who are alleged to have used their computer business to channel money to Abu-Marzuk to fund attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Also charged and arrested in the United States was Ghassan El-Ashi, chairman of a charity called the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, whose funds were frozen and which was shut down by U.S. authorities in December 2001.

El-Ashi and four of his brothers, all employees of the Richardson, Texas-based INFOCOM Corporation, were charged with selling computers and computer parts to Libya and Syria, two countries the U.S. claims are "designated state sponsors of terrorism."

Also charged in the 33-count indictment was Abu-Marzuk's wife, Nadia.

The U.S indictment alleges that Abu-Marzuk and his wife, a cousin of the El-Ashi brothers, engaged in a scheme with INFOCOM officials to disguise Abu-Marzuk's capital investment in the company and to continue to receive profits from the group.

However, Abu-Marzuk said "the United States knew about the money invested in this company and they also knew that my wife is related to the company's owners; this is not news to them as they claim."

"I challenge the United States to prove any of its allegations against me," he said, adding that such accusations are not new and that even some members of the Saudi royal family faced similar ones.

He also considered these accusations parallel to the continuous Fatah–Hamas dialogue that was held in Cairo to rearrange Palestinian internal affairs, as well as to the successful visits of the Syrian President Bashar Al-Asaad to the United Kingdom and France.

There were a couple of phone calls initiated by the Americans between Hamas and the U.S. following the September 11 attacks and then they cut such communication, said Abu-Marzuk.

Arab and Islamic  Fund To Support Hamas

Holy Land Foundation in Texas

He also called for the establishment of a fund in each Arab and Muslim country to support Hamas.

"If each person was able to contribute to this fund with any amount of money, even one dollar, it will be a strong message indicating people's refusal to the U.S. labeling of Hamas as a 'terrorist' organization," he said.

Such action will force the Americans to think twice about how they treat Muslims and vital Muslim issues, including the Palestinian cause, Abu-Marzuk added.

The issue of terrorism is a political one in the first place and that's why the United states doesn't want a specific definition to the word 'terrorism', so it can manipulate it according to its interests, he said.

"While the U.S. labeled the Turkish Kurdish Labor party as terrorist, it accepted to cooperate with Iraqi Kurds on the other side, although both sides fight for the same cause," he said.

"But the Americans see one party as freedom fighters and the other as terrorist."

Jewish organizations, as well as some Christian ones, in the U.S. financially support the Zionist entity, and these funds, in addition to the U.S. government's huge economic and military aid, are used in the killing and persecution of the Palestinian people, he said.

Moving to the importance of the social aspects of the Palestinian community, Abu-Marzuk said that Hamas should socially support the Palestinians, as the movement is part of the people and should stand by them on all levels.