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| Caucasus |
| Al-Qaeda financing Chechen jihad |
| 2004-04-09 |
| Whoever woulda guessed that? World extremist organizations have allocated around ten million dollars to ringleaders of Chechen illegal armed formations, spokesman for the North Caucasus headquarters in charge of the anti-terrorist operation Colonel Ilya Shabalkin told Itar-Tass on Thursday. The information is based on a testimony given by militants who were either detained or gave themselves up to the federal authorities. The funds, intended for the illegal formations headed by Shamil Basayev and Abu Al-Valid, were allocated by foreign Muslim organizations for Jihad against the unfaithful that had close links with Al-Qaeda. As much as 90 percent of the money has never reached Chechnya because it was invested elsewhere by militants’ ringleaders who have long been staying abroad, or invested by Basayev and Abu Al-Valid through their accomplices into businesses far beyond Chechnya, Shabalkin said. Thus, no more than 500,000 U.S. dollars, most of which were presumably false banknotes, have actually reached Chechnya. Separatists’ ringleaders of a lower rank who are still in hiding in highland areas of Chechnya, Shabalkin said, appropriated most of the money. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 The information is based on a testimony given by militants who were either detained or gave themselves up to the federal authorities hmm, sounds thrustworthy.. |
| Posted by: lyot 2004-04-09 4:23:32 AM |
| #1 As much as 90 percent of the money has never reached Chechnya because it was invested elsewhere by militants’ ringleaders who have long been staying abroad, or invested by Basayev and Abu Al-Valid through their accomplices into businesses far beyond Chechnya, Shabalkin said. Thus, no more than 500,000 U.S. dollars, most of which were presumably false banknotes, have actually reached Chechnya. Separatists’ ringleaders of a lower rank who are still in hiding in highland areas of Chechnya, Shabalkin said, appropriated most of the money. [Frink-O-Matic irony meter explodes in background] |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-09 2:17:09 AM |