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Canadian ranch owner linked to bin Laden
A Saudi sheik who owns one of the largest ranches in British Columbia has been named in a lawsuit by people who lost relatives in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. The class-action lawsuit, filed in the United States, lists a number of people suspected of being part of the "Golden Chain," a group of wealthy patrons who donated millions of dollars to Osama bin Laden starting in 1988. Ibrahim Mohammed Afandiâs name is on that list. He has owned the Gang Ranch near Clinton, B.C., for the past 16 years. Conservative foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day says he wants the government to find out if the ranch owner is linked to international terrorism. "There have been some suggested links and we would like to find out so that the gentlemanâs name either can be cleared or it can be found out if there is the possibility of some association with al-Qaeda," Day said. If he is found to have funded terrorism, Day said the Gang Ranch could be seized under new anti-terrorism legislation. Afandi has not been charged with any crime in Canada or the United States. The manager of the huge ranch, Larry Ramstad, said heâs known Afandi for years, but hasnât seen him for about a year and a half. Heâs probably fled back to the Magic Kingdom, where itâs never against the law to fund terrorists as long as Prince Nayef runs the Interior Ministry. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-02-07 |
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