Interrogations of recently arrested Islamic Jihad activists by the Shin Bet security service, along with indictments filed against the activists, reveal new details of how terror supporters abroad transfer funds to organizations in the territories. In a number of cases, such as the bombing of Maxim restaurant in Haifa last October, instructions for carrying out the attack came from Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus, Syria. Yesterday, charges were filed in the Samaria Military Court against Sheikh Bassam Saadi, a senior Jihad activist from Jenin. Sa'adi, 43, was arrested in early October and managed to take 90 days of Shin Bet interrogation without deviating from his story, admitting only that he transferred money to needy individuals.
"Hey, Sheikh! We need more ammunition over here!"
"Okay. Here's some dough." |
The Military Prosecution on the other hand has accused Saadi of transferring funds from Jihad's Damascus headquarters to terror activists in Jenin, as well as of being a member of the organization's senior leadership since 1995. At present, the indictment does not directly link Saadi to terror attacks. The Shin Bet investigation reveals that Sa'adi, along with other senior Jihad members, used bank accounts opened by their wives at banks in the territories to conduct the money transfers. The Damascus headquarters would transfer the funds to the accounts by means of a liaison who was not known as an activist in the organization.
| "Clean" (sometimes known as "white") bodies... |
From the accounts, the monies were distributed to the families of suicide terrorists, families whose houses were demolished by theIDF and members of Jihad's military wing. Some of the money also went toward "personal expenses" - namely, buying arms. The distribution of the funds was supervised by a man known as Abu Farah, the deputy of the organization's secretary-general, Dr. Ramadan Shalah. |