[osint] Gulf conference tackles terror financing
Geostrategy-Direct Week of April 13, 2004 FOCUS ON TERRORISM Gulf conference tackles terror financing ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates hosted a conference to regulate hawala. Hawala, the use of moneychangers to transfer funds without leaving any official record, was believed to have been the chief method Islamic insurgency groups used to relay money to operatives. The conference was held in Abu Dhabi April 3-5. More than 400 delegates from 60 countries, including Gulf Cooperation Council and Western states, attended. Those attending came from law enforcement agencies, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Financial Action Task Force. Called the International Conference on Hawala, the gathering examined the institution of hawala and how to regulate it. UAE officials said the conference would usher in a new regulatory system on hawala. A government announcement did not elaborate. "A regulatory framework is expected to be in place by the end of the meeting," the Central Bank said in a statement on April 1. GCC states have dismissed demands to eliminate hawala, saying the institution was deeply rooted and more efficient than banks. In 2002, the UAE, regarded as a leading venue for hawala, asked hawala operators to register with the Central Bank in an effort to regulate the industry. The effort was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Arab League states have been removed from a list of nations that fail to cooperate in the international effort to halt financing to Al Qaida and related groups. Egypt was the last Arab state to have been removed from the list of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories. On Feb. 27, Egypt was removed from the list after Cairo launched a series of measures to combat money laundering that facilitated the funding to groups deemed as terrorists. Currently, there are no Arab League states on the NCCT list. Western diplomatic sources said Arab states responded to what they termed intense pressure from the United States and the international financial community. "There is no Arab country now on the list," said Ali Bolbol, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute of the Arab Monetary Fund. "Some Arab countries were on the list but now all of them were taken off. The international pressure is paying off. Arab countries have put in place procedures and laws to fight money laundering and terrorist financing." Bolbol was speaking at a recent seminar in Abu Dhabi by the Economic Policy Institute of the Arab Monetary Fund. The three-day course, designed to help governments battle money laundering and terrorist financing, was attended by representatives from 19 Arab countries. -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-osint@yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor bisoldi@intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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Tefft, Bruce