Global Relief Foundation

The Global Chevra Foundation (GRF), also known as Foundation Secours Mondial or FSM, was an Islamic charity based in Bridgeview, IL 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" by the United States Treasury Department in 2002.

The FBI and Treasury Department have asserted links between Global Chevra Foundation founder Rabih Haddad and Makhtab al-Khidamat.[1] 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.[2]

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."[3] Haddad was arrested by the INS on immigration charges when the group's offices were raided, and later deported to Lebanon.[4][5] 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.[3] Supports of the foundation claimed that it was unfairly targeted, denied due process and closed before any evidence linking it to terrorism had been produced.[6][7]

According to the Treasury Department, GRF helped fund a number of al Qaeda-sponsored activities, including bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and armed action against groups perceived to be un-Islamic.[8]

Global Relief sued the Treasury Department for release of its assets in January 2002.[9] On December 31, 2002, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals declined to reverse the Treasury seizure[10]

Lawyers for Global Relief sued a number of news organizations for libel for publishing FBI and Justice Department charges.[11] The suit was dismissed by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on December 1, 2004. The court's opinion stated that "All of the reports were either true or substantially true recitations of the government's suspicions about and actions against GRF."

References

  1. ^ Mintz, John US Labels Muslim Charity as Terrorist Group; Treasury Cites Ties to... Washington Post, October 19, 2002
  2. ^ Carlta Vitzthum and Keith Johnson, Spain Detains al Qaeda Financier In Flurry of Europe Terror Arrests Wall Street Journal Online, April 25, 2002
  3. ^ a b "Global Relief Foundation tied to 1998 terrorist". Michigan Daily. 2002-05-08. http://www.michigandaily.com/content/global-relief-foundation-tied-1998-terrorist. Retrieved 2009-02-18. 
  4. ^ Roxane Assaf (March 2002), Global Relief Foundation assets seized as Chairman is arrested on visa violation, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
  5. ^ CAIR and Terrorism, July 23, 2004
  6. ^ Donohue, Laura K. (2008). [9780521844444 The Cost of Counterterrorism: Power, Politics, and Liberty]. Cambridge University Press. pp. 174, 175. 9780521844444. 
  7. ^ Gill Donovan (2002-03-29). "Muslim charity asks judge to bar `secret evidence". National Catholic Reporter. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_21_38/ai_84895939. Retrieved 2009-02-18. 
  8. ^ "Treasury Department Statement Regarding the Designation of the Global Relief Foundation". United States Treasury. 2002-10-18. http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/po3553.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-18. 
  9. ^ Allan Dodds Frank (2002-01-28). "Islamic charity fights asset freeze". CNN. http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/01/28/inv.charity.lawsuit/index.html. 
  10. ^ U.S. Circuit Court 315 F.3d 748, Global Relief Foundation, Inc, v. Paul H. O'Neill, Secretary of the Treasury, et al. [1]
  11. ^ Josh Gerstein (2004-12-02). "Newspapers Cleared in Libel Case". New York Sun. http://www.nysun/article/5654. 

Further reading