Diamond deals funded al-Qaeda

2004-08-08 17:25

Dakar - A series of witnesses place six top al-Qaeda fugitives in Africa buying up diamonds before the 9/11 attacks on the US, according to a confidential UN-backed report obtained by AP.

The report claims that al-Qaeda laundered millions of dollars in terror funds through African diamonds before 9/11.

Al-Qaeda members also dealt directly with former Liberian president Charles Taylor.

Its alleged aim was to snap up diamonds, which was easily convertible and untraceable, after the US froze al-Qaeda bank accounts and other conventional assets worldwide in 1999.

The dossier, apparently prepared by UN-backed investigators for presentation to the 9/11 commission, moves the matter forward by citing sources corroborating in detail accounts of al-Qaeda's Africa links.

"It is clear that al-Qaeda has been in West Africa since September 1998 and maintained a continuous presence in the area through 2002," the report claimed.

Taylor's involvement

The roster of al-Qaeda fugitives allegedly witnessed in Liberia before 9/11 include names that have since become infamous.

Among them is Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian wanted in the 1998 bombings of two African US embassies, and arrested in July. Other al-Qaeda figures cited in the dossier:

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, accused in 1998 and 2002 al-Qaeda attacks in East Africa.

Egyptian Mohammed Atef, an alleged Osama bin Laden military chief, killed in Afghanistan.

Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, the only prominent female figure in al-Qaeda, considered by the US to be a likely "fixer" for the group.

Kenyan Sheik Ahmed Salin Swedan, wanted in 1998 attacks in East Africa.

Egyptian Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, wanted in the 1998 attacks.

According to the dossier Taylor himself gave al-Qaeda operatives entry to the shady West African world of guns, cash and diamonds. Taylor, who has since been ousted, allegedly brought together rebels, state leaders and Islamic extremists.

Accounts in the report include an alleged September 1998 get-together at Taylor's executive mansion where he met Abdullah. Ghailani and Mohammed met Taylor in 1999.

Abdullah later ordered Ghailani and Mohammed to do al-Qaeda's diamond-buying, "because they were of African descent and would not arouse any suspicion," the dossier claims.

Other accounts include a "highly credible source" as placing former al-Qaeda No. 2 Atef and Ghailani in Monrovia in 1999 and 2000, at times meeting with diamond-dealing rebels.

Neither this dossier nor other official accounts to reach the public made the next step: indicating any direct proof that al-Qaeda used diamond profits to fund the 9/11 attacks.

Disreputable sources

The dossier was put together by prosecutors trying war crimes in Sierra Leone, where rebels waged a 1991-2002 terror campaign bent on gaining control of that country's government and diamond fields.

A problem for those putting together a case of al-Qaeda links in Africa is that much of the evidence has come from disreputable figures involved in the dealings themselves.

When the US gave one of the key sources a polygraph test, he failed, AP was told.

Al-Qaeda suspects captured since 9/11 also have supported the al-Qaeda-Africa-diamond link.

UN-backed investigators, including lead prosecutor David Crane, a former US department of defence lawyer, have been anxious for the US to recognise the al-Qaeda-diamond link.

A UN-backed investigator went before the 9/11 commission at least once to present the war-crimes' court's evidence on al-Qaeda in West Africa, commission spokesperson Al Felzenberg confirmed.

The commission's final report, however, made clear its position: "No persuasive evidence exists that al-Qaeda ... funded itself through trafficking in diamonds from African states engaged in civil wars."

- AP