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 For Immediate Release
Sep 20, 2001 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172


COMPLAINT FILED WITH IRS AGAINST ALLEGED U.S.-BASED TERRORIST FRONT GROUPS

JUDICIAL WATCH ASKS THAT IRS INVESTIGATE AND SHUT DOWN TERROR FINANCIAL NETWORK LIKELY LINKED TO BIN LADEN NETWORK


(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch today joined the war against terrorism by filing a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service requesting a full-scale investigation of a number of front operations, most pretending to be charities, for radical Islamic terrorist organizations. The complaint was filed with IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti and a copy was sent to the President, the Treasury Secretary, and the Attorney General to further insure swift action. A copy of the complaint is available by clicking HERE.

Judicial Watch investigators, using public sources such as The New York Times, have found that at least 16 non-profit entities and 4 for-profit entities have been linked financially to the bin Laden network and/or the vicious terror group Hamas. Based on Judicial Watch’s analysis of publicly available documents, and other published reports, it is clear that this U.S.-based network has provided financial resources for Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist operations.

One group in particular, the Islamic African Relief Agency (based in Missouri), reportedly transferred money to another organization, Mercy International, another “front” non-profit group. It was Mercy International which reportedly purchased the vehicles used by bin Laden to bomb U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 8, 1998.

“The IRS has a sorry history of auditing Bill Clinton’s perceived political opponents during the Clinton Administration and of maliciously harassing law-abiding citizens in general. Perhaps now the IRS can perform a public service by following the law and bringing its powers to bear on a financial network that has been linked to murderous terrorism. Our lives are at stake. This U.S.-based terror finance network must be ended immediately,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman.

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