Opinion ID: 1443357
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The SHC [2]

Text: The SHC was formed in 1993 by decree of King Fahd (who was then President of the Council of Ministers, the Kingdom's highest governing body), apparently to support Bosnian Muslims displaced by civil war. The SHC acted as a fully integrated component of al Qa[e]da's logistical and financial support infrastructure. In the early 1990s, al Qaeda fighters began infiltrating Bosnia disguised as SHC relief workers. The SHC has funneled millions of dollars to al Qaeda, evidenced by investigators' inability to account for nearly $41 million in SHC donations. In an October 2001 raid of the SHC's Sarajevo offices, U.S. government officials found computer hard drives containing photos of the World Trade Center, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the U.S.S. Cole (all targets of terrorist attacks); documents about pesticides and crop dusters; photos and maps of Washington, D.C. (with prominent government buildings marked); and instructions for fabricating U.S. State Department badges. After the raid, the Bosnian Financial Police reported that peacekeeping forces confiscated some documentation for which it can be claimed with certainty that it does not belong in the scope of work of a humanitarian organization. Similar allegations have been lodged against numerous other Muslim charities. Although those claims are not raised in this appeal, the allegations about the charities provide the necessary background for the issues here. The summary allegation is as follows: Ostensible charitable organizations, and in particular, Islamic charities under the control of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have played a singularly important role in al Qa[e]da's development and pursuit of its perverse ambitions. These charities have served as the primary vehicle for raising, laundering and distributing funds on behalf of al Qa[e]da from its inception. In addition, these charities have provided arms, false travel documentation, physical assets and logistical support to al Qa[e]da. These allegations include a wealth of detail (conscientiously cited to published and unpublished sources) that, if true, reflect close working arrangements between ostensible charities and terrorist networks, including al Qaeda. The United States government has listed several of the charities (or their branch offices) as Specifically Designated Global Terrorists, and has taken steps to shut down their operations.