| Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook مُوسَى مُحَمَّد ابُو مَرْزوق |
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|---|---|
| Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau | |
| In office 1997 – present |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 January 1951 Rafah, Gaza Strip |
| Political party | Hamas Islamic Association of Palestine |
| Residence | Damascus, Syria |
| Alma mater | Ain Shams University |
| Profession | Engineer |
| Religion | Islam |
Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook (Arabic: مُوسَى مُحَمَّد ابُو مَرْزوق; born 9 January, 1951, Rafah, Gaza Strip) is a Palestinian senior member of Hamas.
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Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook has been active in the Islamic political work since 1968, Marzook played a significant role in reorganizing Hamas after the mass arrest of its members in 1989. He was elected to be the first Hamas political bureau chief in 1992, and since 1997 has been deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau.[1] Marzook founded the Islamic Association of Palestine.[2]
In the mid-1990s Marzook was arrested in JFK airport with no formal charges placed against him. Two months after his detainment, Israel filed a request for the USA to extradite him. He spent the following 2 years fighting his case in the court system, but the final decision was for his extradition, after which Israel dropped its extradition request. With no formal charges against him the United States released him, but not wanting him to remain, the U.S. contacted numerous Arab countries to allow Marzook residency. All refused, except Jordan, which reportedly agreed under U.S. pressure.
Marzook was listed as a Specially Designated Terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, and is currently on the re-named Treasury department Specially Designated National list under such alternative spellings of his name as Dr. Musa Abu-Marzuq, Sa'id Abu-Marzuq, Mousa Mohamed Abou Marzook, Musa Abu Marzouk, and Musa Abu Marzuk, and under the alias "Abu-'Umar."[3]
In 2002, a federal grand jury in Dallas returned an indictment against Marzook for conspiring to violate U.S. laws that prohibit dealings in terrorist funds. The indictment alleged that Marzook had conspired with the Richardson, Texas-based InfoCom Corporation and five of its employees to hide his financial transactions with the computer company. He allegedly invested $250,000 in InfoCom, with Infocom to make payments to Marzook based on the company's net profits or losses.[4] In 2004, a U.S. court indicted him in absentia for coordinating and financing Hamas activities.[5]