Counter Terrorism Committee Study Guide

COUNTER TERRORISM COMMITTEE Dear Delegates, This is the study guide for the Counter Terrorism Committee on the topic area “Terrorist Interception and Infrastructure in South Asia”. As mentioned before, this is the basic guideline, a pointer, to show what are the subtopics that are to be discussed during committee. Extensive research must be done on all the sub topics mentioned and also some others which each one of you personally consider relevant. Go through the study guide and conference handbook thoroughly before starting further research. The respective country’s stance must be researched by you. There is no mention of it in this study guide. Delegates, I would just like to say, that a lot of effort and time has gone in to make JACO MUN possible, just so that the Kolkata school circuit gets a dose of whats happening all over the world and so that 70-75 select participants become aware of the world around them. After this, I , personally, will feel highly let down, if any delegate does not come well prepared. At the same time, let me assure you that if you do come researched and ready, then JACO MUN 2009 will be one of the best experiences of your life,

STUDY GUIDE 2008 Mumbai attacks These attacks have been mentioned because they can be considered as a turning point in the way the world looks at South Asian terrorism. Pointers can be taken with regard to the terrorist’s methods. The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's financial capital and its largest city. The attacks, which drew widespread condemnation across the world, began on 26 November 2008 and lasted until 29 November, killing at least 173 people and wounding at least 308. Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai: at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, ]Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Orthodox Jewish-owned Nariman House, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College. There was also an explosion at the Mazagaon docks, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle. By the early morning of 28 November, all sites except for the Taj Mahal Palace had been secured by Mumbai Police and security forces. An action by India's National Security Guards (NSG) on 29 November resulted in the death of the last remaining attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace, ending all fighting in the attacks.

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, disclosed that the attackers were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, thePakistan-based militant organization, considered a terrorist organization by India, the United States, and the United Kingdom, among others. The Indian Government said that the attackers came from Pakistan, and their controllers were in Pakistan. Kasab's trial began on 6 May. He pleaded not guilty and if convicted, faces the death penalty. On 7 January 2009, after more than a month of denying the nationality of the attackers, Pakistan's Information Minister Sherry Rehmanofficially accepted Ajmal Amir's nationality as Pakistani. On 12 February 2009, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik, in a televised news briefing, confirmed that parts of the attack had been planned in Pakistan and said that six people, including the alleged mastermind, were being held in connection with the attacks.

ATTRIBUTION Indian authorities have said that the Mumbai attacks were directed by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants inside Pakistan. American intelligence agencies also agreed with this attribution. Pakistan initially contested this attribution, but agreed this was the case on 7 January 2009. The Indian government supplied evidence to Pakistan's high commission in Delhi, in the form of interrogations, weapons, and call records of conversations during the attacks. The evidence, shown to friendly governments and media, provided a detailed sequence of training, supplying, and constant communications of attackers with handlers from Pakistan. In addition, Indian government officials said that the attacks were so sophisticated that they must have had official backing from Pakistani "agencies", an accusation denied by Pakistan. In February 2009, Pakistani newspaper The Dawn, citing Pakistani investigators, claimed that the attacks were planned in Bangladesh and refined in India with significant support being provided by Indian based militant groups and criminal organisations. However, Indian investigators refuted this claim, with the Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram dismissing the claim as "rubbish". On 12 February 2009, Pakistan's Interior MinisterRehman Malik agreed that some part of the conspiracy did take place in Pakistan. Malik said that Pakistan had lodged a First Information Report (FIR) under Anti-Terrorism Act against three persons. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on 15 February 2009 that the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings and the Mumbai attacks were linked, and that Pakistan needed information from India to continue its investigation. The criminal investigation begun by the Mumbai police has identified 37 suspects – including two army officers – wanted for their alleged involvement in the plot. All but two of the suspects, many of whom are identified only through aliases, are Pakistani. The attacks have damaged India's already strained relationship with Pakistan. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that India may indulge in military strikes against terror camps in Pakistan to protect its

territorial integrity. There were also after-effects on the United States's relationships with both countries, the US-led NATO war in Afghanistan, and on the Global War on Terror. According to Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble, Indian intelligence agencies did not share any information with them.

TERRORIST GROUPS IN SOUTH ASIA This section requires tough talking. Solutions must be found for all the listed terrorist organizations. Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda has attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, the most notable being the September 11 attacks in 2001. These actions were followed by the US government launching the War on Terrorism. As of 2009, the group is believed to have between 200 and 300 members. Characteristic techniques include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets. Activities ascribed to it may involve members of the movement, who have taken a pledge of loyalty to Osama bin Laden, or the much more numerous "al-Qaeda-linked" individuals who have undergone training in one of its camps in Afghanistan or Sudan but not taken any pledge. Al-Qaeda's objectives include the end of foreign influence in Muslim countries and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate. Reported beliefs include that a Christian-Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam, and that the killing of bystanders and civilians is religiously justified in jihad. Its management philosophy has been described as "centralization of decision and decentralization of execution." Following 9/11 and the War, it is thought that al-Qaeda's leadership has "become geographically isolated", leading to the "emergence of decentralized leadership" of regional groups using the al-Qaeda "brand name." Al-Qaeda has been labelled a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General, the Commission of the European Communities of the European Union, the United States Department of State, the Australian, Government of India, Public Safety Canada, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan's Diplomatic Bluebook, South Korean Foreign Ministry, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service, the United Kingdom Home Office, Russia, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Turkish Police Forces and the Swiss Government Lashkar-e-Taiba It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Zafar Iqbal in the Kunar province of Afghanistan, and is currently based in Muridke near Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan operating several training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Lashkar-e-Taiba members have carried out major attacks against India and its objective is to introduce an Islamic state in South Asia and to "liberate" Muslims residing in Indian-administered Kashmir. Some breakaway Lashkar members have also been accused of carrying out attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, to mark its opposition to the policies of former President Pervez Musharraf. The

organization is banned as a terrorist organization by India, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, theEuropean Union, Russia and Australia. U.S. intelligence officials believe that Pakistan's main intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), continues to give LeT intelligence help and protection. While the primary area of operations of the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s terrorist activities is the Kashmir valley, the outfit is also active in the Jammu region besides having undertaken isolated attacks in other parts of India.[citation needed] The LeT's professed goal is not limited to challenging India's sovereignty overJammu and Kashmir. The group's aims include establishing an Islamic state in South Asia and uniting all Muslim majority regions in countries that surround Pakistan. The Lashkar-e-Taiba group has repeatedly claimed through its journals and websites that its main aim is to destroy the Indian republic and to annihilate Hinduism and Judaism. LeT has declared Hindus and Jews to be the "enemies of Islam", as well as India and Israel to be the "enemies of Pakistan". They see the issue of Kashmir as part of a wider global struggle. Further, the outfit is based on a sort of Islamist fundamentalism preached by its mentor, the JuD. In its history the organization has shown scant respect for human life and has carried out violent activities. Organizations like the LeT have been used to absorb the resilient remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives in the region. In a pamphlet entitled "Why Are We Waging Jihad?" the group defined its agenda as the restoration ofIslamic rule over all parts of India. In January 2009 the LeT publicly declared that it would pursue a peaceful resolution in the Kashmir issue and that it did not have global jihadist aims. In the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, investigations of computer and email accounts revealed a list of 320 locations worldwide deemed as possible targets for attack. Only 20 of the targets were locations within India. Analysts believed that the list was a statement of intent rather than a list of locations where LeT cells had been established and were ready to strike. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami is a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group operating primarily in Kashmir. In 1997, the United States designated HUM a foreign terrorist organization, and in the same year the organization changed its name from Harakat al-Ansar. The group splintered from Harkatul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), a Pakistani group formed in 1980 to fight the Soviet military in Afghanistan. In 1989, at the end of Soviet-Afghan war, the group entered Kashmiri politics by use of militants under the leadership of Sajjad Afghani. In 1993 the group merged with Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami to form Harkat-ul-Ansar. Immediately following the merger India arrested three senior members: Nasrullah Mansur Langaryal, chief of the former Harkat-ul Mujahideen in November1993; Maulana Masood Azhar, General Secretary in February 1994, and Sajjad Afghani (Sajjad Sajid) in the same month in Srinagar.

As a response the group carried out several kidnappings in an attempt to free their leaders, all of which failed. Linked to the Kashmiri group alFaran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir in July 1995; one, Hans Christian Ostrø, was killed in August 1995 and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year. In 1997 the group renamed itself to the original Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, in a response to the United States defining Harkat-ul-Ansar as terrorist organization. In 1999 Sajjad was killed during a jailbreak which lead to the hijacking, by the group, of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in December, which caused the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. Azhar did not, however, return to the HUM, choosing instead to form the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), a rival terrorist group expressing a more radical line than the HUM. The group has since not committed any major incidents. The group again came to the attention of the US after the 9/11 attacks, leading President George W. Bush to ban the group on September 25, 2001. Long-time leader of the group, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, in mid-February 2000 stepped down as HUM emir, turning the reins over to the popular Kashmiri commander and his second-in-command, Farooq Kashmiri. Khalil assumed the position of HUM Secretary General. HUM is thought to have several thousand armed supporters located in Pakistani Kashmir, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions. It uses light and heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets. HUM has lost some of its membership due to defections to the JEM. The group is based in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, and several other towns in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but members conduct insurgent and militant activities primarily in Kashmir. On October 10, 2005, Britain's Home Office banned HUM and fourteen other terrorist groups from operating in the United Kingdom. Under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000, being a member of a HUM is punished by a 10year prison term. TALIBAN the Taliban, also Taleban, is a Sunni Islamist, predominantly Pashtun fundamentalist religious and political movement that governed Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when its leaders were removed from power by Northern Alliance and NATO forces. It has regrouped and since 2004 revived as a strong insurgency movement fighting aguerrilla war against the current government of Afghanistan, Pakistan, allied NATO forces participating in Operation Enduring Freedom, and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It operates in Afghanistan and the Frontier Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The Taliban movement is headed by Mullah Mohammed Omar. Mullah Omar's original commanders were "a mixture of former small-unit military commanders and madrasah teachers," and the rank and file made up mostly of Afghan refugees who had studied at Islamic religious schools in Pakistan. The overwhelming majority of the Taliban movement were ethnic Pashtuns from southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, along with a smaller number of volunteers from Islamic countries or regions in North Africa, the

Middle East and the former Soviet Union. The Taliban received valuable training, supplies and arms from the Pakistani government, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and many recruits from madrasahs for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, primarily ones established by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). Although in control of Afghanistan's capital (Kabul) and much or most of the country for five years, the Taliban regime, which called itself the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and theUnited Arab Emirates. The Taliban implemented one of the "strictest interpretation[s] of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world".[12] Although there is no evidence that the CIA directly supported the Taliban or Al Qaeda, some basis for military support of the Taliban was provided when, in the early 1980s, the CIA and the ISI (Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency) provided arms to Afghans resisting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the ISI assisted the process of gathering radical Muslims from around the world to fight against the Soviets. Osama Bin Laden was one of the key players in organizing training camps for the foreign Muslim volunteers. The U.S. poured funds and arms into Afghanistan, and "by 1987, 65,000 tons of U.S.-made weapons and ammunition a year were entering the war." Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed , literally The Army of Mohammad, transliterated as Jaish-e-Muhammed, Jaish-e-Mohammad or Jaish-e-Muhammad, often abbreviated as JeM) is a major Islamic mujahedeen organization in South Asia. Jaish-e-Mohammed was formed in 2000 and is based in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The group's primary motive is to separate Kashmir from India and it has carried out a series of attacks primarily in Indian-administered Kashmir. The group was formed after supporters of Maulana Masood Azhar split from Harkut-ul-Mujahideen. The group is regarded as a terrorist organization by several countries including India, United States and United Kingdom. Jaish-e-Mohammed is viewed by someas the "deadliest" and "the principal terrorist organization in Jammu and Kashmir". An informant, posing as a member of Jaish-e-Mohammed, helped police to arrest four people allegedly plotting to bomb a New York City synagogue as well as to shoot Stinger missiles at military aircraft in the United States. The arrest of the four took place in May 2009. One of the four, by the name of James Cromitie, allegedly expressed the desire to join Jaish-e-Mohammed. This expression allegedly took place approximately a year prior to this arrest. Naxalite Naxalite or Naxalism is an informal name given to communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the communist movement in India. Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism. Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In recent years, they have spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground

groups like theCommunist Party of India (Maoist). They are conducting an insurgency, typically called the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. They now have a presence in 40 percent of India's geographical area, and are especially concentrated in an area known as the "Naxal Belt," comprising 92,000 square kilometers. According to India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, 20,000 insurgents are currently in operation, and their growing influence prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare them as the most serious threat to India's national security. The CPI (Maoist) and some other Naxal factions are now considered terrorists by the Government of India. In February 2009, Central government announced its plans for simultaneous, co-ordinated counteroperations in all Left-wing extremism-hit states—Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, to plug all possible escape routes of Naxalites. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is a separatist organization formally based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976, it waged a violentsecessionist campaign that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. This campaign evolved into theSri Lankan Civil War, which was one of the longest running armed conflicts in Asia until the LTTE was militarily defeated by the Sri Lankan Military in May 2009. The Tigers, who during the height of their power possessed a welldeveloped militia cadre, are notorious for recruiting child soldiers, for carrying out civilian massacres, suicide bombings and various other high profile attacks, including the assassinations of several high-ranking Sri Lankan and Indian politicians like Rajiv Gandhi. They invented the suicide belt and pioneered the use of suicide bombing as a tactic. They also pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks, and used light aircraft in some of their attacks. They are currently proscribed as aterrorist organization by 32 countries (see list of countries), but have extensive support amongst the Tamil diaspora in Europe and North America, and amongst Tamils in India. Since its inception, and until his death, the LTTE was headed by its founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran. They currently do not have an official leader. Over the course of the conflict, the Tamil Tigers frequently exchanged control of territory in north-east Sri Lanka with the Sri Lankan military, engaging in fierce confrontations in the process. They were also involved in peace talks to end the conflict four times, each time unsuccessfully. At the start of the final round of peace talks in 2002, they had a 15,000km2 area under their control. However after the breakdown of the peace process in 2006, the Sri Lankan military launched a major offensive against the Tigers, bringing the entire country under their control and defeating the LTTE militarily. Victory over the Tigers was declared by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 16, 2009, and the LTTE admitted defeat on May 17, 2009. The rebel leader Prabhakaran was subsequently killed by government forces on May 19. Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was a Islamist organisation operating inBangladesh. It was founded in 1998 in Palampur in Dhaka division by Sabir Quazi and

gained public prominence in 2001 when bombs and documents detailing the activities of the organization were discovered in Parbatipur in Dinajpur district. The organization was officially banned by the government of Bangladesh in February 2005 after attacks on NGOs, but struck back in midAugust when it detonated 500 bombs at 300 locations throughout Bangladesh. The JMB is believed to contain at least 100,000 members, and have an extensive network of organizations, including connections to legal Islamist organizations. Terrorist Finance This section is of paramount importance. If appropriate steps are taken to exterminate sources of terrorist finance, it would be a major setback for terrorism Terrorist financing came into limelight after the events of terrorism on 9/11. The US passed the USA PATRIOT Act, among other reasons, to ensure that both combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) and anti-money laundering (AML) was given adequate focus by US financial institutions. The act also had extra-territorial impact and non-US banks having correspondent banking accounts or doing business with US banks had to upgrade their AML/CFT processes. Initially the focus of enforcement efforts for CFT purposes were on charities, unregistered money services businesses (MSBs) (so called underground banking or ‘Hawalas’), and registered MSBs that were unregulated for CFT. The FATF (working with the US) brought in 9 special recommendations for CFT which were recommended standards applicable to all FATF members who were expected to upgrade their laws, regulations and enforcement efforts including through Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and cross-border sharing of information for CFT purposes. The FATF black-list (the NCCT list) mechanism was used to coerce countries to bring about change. Money laundering Often linked in legislation and regulation, terrorist financing and money laundering are conceptual opposites. Money laundering is the process where cash raised from criminal activities is made to look legitimate for reintegration into the financial system, whereas terrorist financing cares little about the source of the funds, but it is what the funds are to be used for that defines its scope. While the fund required for a terrorist act may be as small as US$5,000, the process of recruiting, training and sustaining sleeper operations over years requires significant amounts of money. Since it is becoming more difficult for terrorists to raise funds from charities, they have resorted to money laundering. Terrorists are now working with drug traffickers and criminals to make and launder the proceeds of crime like fraud, prostitution, intellectual property theft, smuggling - this is now routine for them. Terrorists use low value but high volume fraud activity to fund their operations. Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland are using legitimate businesses such as hotels, pubs and taxi operators to launder money and fund political activities. Even beyond Ireland, terrorists are buying out/controlling front-end businesses especially cash-intensive businesses

including in some cases money services businesses to move monies. Bulk cash smuggling and placement through cash-intensive businesses is one typology. They are now also moving monies through the new online payment systems. They also use trade linked schemes to launder monies. Nonetheless, the older systems have not given way. Terrorists also continue to move monies through MSBs/Hawalas, and through international ATM transactions. Charities also continue to be used in countries where controls are not so stringent. Banking Privacy-Swiss banks Swiss bank secrecy does not protect private banking information; the protections afforded under Swiss law are similar to confidentiality protections between doctors and patients or lawyers and their clients. The Swiss government views the right to privacy as a fundamental principle that should be protected by all democratic countries. While secrecy is protected, in practice all bank accounts are linked to an identified individual, and a prosecutor or judge may issue a "lifting order" in order to grant law enforcement access to information relevant to a criminal investigation. Swiss law distinguishes between tax evasion and tax fraud. International legal assistance is only granted with respect to tax fraud. In domestic prosecutions, banking secrecy may be lifted by court order in cases of tax fraud or particularly severe cases of tax evasion. Pressure on Switzerland has been applied by several states and international organizations attempting to alter the Swiss privacy policy. The European Union, whose member countries geographically surround Switzerland, has complained about member states' nationals using Swiss banks to avoid taxation in their home countries. The EU has long sought a harmonized tax regime among its member states, although many Swiss banking officials (and, according to some polls, the public) are resisting any such changes. Since July 1, 2005, Switzerland has charged a withholding tax on all interest earned in the personal Swiss accounts of European Union residents. In 2001 and 2002, an amnesty was offered by the government of Italy in which taxes and penalties on repatriated funds were limited on funds repatriated from Switzerland; 30 to 35 billion euros worth of deposits were returned to Italy. In 2003, a similar amnesty was approved by the government of Germany. Swiss bank accounts cannot be opened without the holder signing a legal document asserting that they have no outstanding financial obligations to the IRS. Despite this, Swiss banks have been criticized for improperly shielding individuals practicing tax evasion. Because only tax fraud is a crime in Switzerland, while tax evasion is not, it is believed that many tax evaders have been able to take advantage of the Swiss privacy provisions. In January 2003, the United States Department of Treasury announced a new information-sharing agreement under the already extant U.S.-Swiss Income Tax Convention; the agreement was intended to facilitate more effective tax information exchange between the two countries. However, Swiss policy has continued to come under international criticism, and in March 2009 Switzerland agreed to renegotiate more effective tax cooperation with the United States and other countries.

Some bank accounts are afforded an extra degree of privacy. Information concerning such accounts, known as numbered accounts, is restricted to senior bank officers, rather than being accessible to all the employees of a bank. However, the information required to open such an account is no different from that of an ordinary account; completely anonymous accounts are prohibited by law. Should a criminal investigation take place, law enforcement has access to information related to a numbered account in the same way it has access to information about any other account.

The Drug trade Illicit drugs form an underground, unregulated market which creates a highly lucrative source of funding and personnel in the armed and violent actions of the terrorist groups against civilians and governments around the world. The United Nations reports that the illegal drug trade is worth $400 Billion a year - more than the U.S. Department of Defence budget. Indeed, illegal drugs make up 8% of all international trade while other significant fields such as textiles make up 7.5% and motor vehicles just 5.3%. Through the unanimously passed Resolution 1735 and Resolution 1822, passed by the UN Security Council in the year 2006 and 2008 respectively, the UN recognized terrorist organizations such as the Al Qaida and the Taliban as using proceeds derived from illicit cultivation, production and trafficking of narcotic drugs originating in Afghanistan, and their precursors in order to fund their activities. The record opium harvest in Afghanistan - over 8,000 tons - will lead to the production of some 1,000 tons of heroin. This amount implies not only health consequences - spreading drug addiction and HIVinfection, but also brings enormous profits to criminals and extremists as well as instability and is a major source of terrorist financing. 75% of the Afghan opium is cultivated in the most unstable southern regions of the country, far away from the borders - in the regions controlled by the Taliban Hawala. Hawala (also known as hundi) is an informal value transfer system based on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers, which are primarily located in the Near East,North and Northeast Africa, and South Asia. Hawala has its origins in classical Islamic law, and is mentioned in texts of Islamic jurisprudence as early as the 8th century. Hawala itself later influenced the development of the agency incommon law and in civil laws such as the aval in French law and the avallo in Italian law. The words aval and avallo were themselves derived from Hawala. The transfer of debt, which was "not permissible under Roman law but became widely practiced in medieval Europe, especially in commercial transactions", was due to the large extent of the "trade conducted by the Italian cities with the Muslim world in the Middle Ages." The agency was also "an institution unknown to Roman law" as no "individual could conclude a binding contract on behalf of another as his agent." In Roman law, the "contractor himself was considered the party to the contract and it took a second contract between the person who acted on behalf of a principal and the latter in order to transfer the rights and the obligations deriving from the contract to him." On the other hand, Islamic law and the later common

law "had no difficulty in accepting agency as one of its institutions in the field of contracts and of obligations in general." Hawala is believed to have arisen in the financing of long-distance trade around the emerging capital trade centers in the early medieval period. In South Asia, it appears to have developed into a fully-fledged money market instrument, which was only gradually replaced by the instruments of the formal banking system in the first half of the 20th century. Today hawala is probably used mostly for migrant workers' remittances to their countries of origin. In the most basic variant of the hawala system, money is transferred via a network of hawala brokers, or hawaladars. A customer approaches a hawala broker in one city and gives a sum of money to be transferred to a recipient in another, usually foreign, city. The hawala broker calls another hawala broker in the recipient's city, gives disposition instructions of the funds (usually minus a small commission), and promises to settle the debt at a later date. The unique feature of the system is that no promissory instruments are exchanged between the hawala brokers; the transaction takes place entirely on the honor system. As the system does not depend on the legal enforceability of claims, it can operate even in the absence of a legal and juridical environment. No records are produced of individual transactions; only a running tally of the amount owed by one broker to another is kept. Settlements of debts between hawala brokers can take a variety of forms, and need not take the form of direct cash transactions. In addition to commissions, hawala brokers often earn their profits through bypassing official exchange rates. Generally the funds enter the system in the source country's currency and leave the system in the recipient country's currency. As settlements often take place without any foreign exchange transactions, they can be made at other than official exchange rates. Hawala is attractive to customers because it provides a fast and convenient transfer of funds, usually with a far lower commission than that charged by banks. Its advantages are most pronounced when the receiving country applies distortive exchange rate regulations (as has been the case for many typical receiving countries such as Pakistan or Egypt) or when the banking system in the receiving country is less complex (e.g. due to differences in legal environment in places such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia). Furthermore, the transfers are informal and not effectively regulated by governments, which is a major advantage to customers with tax, currency control, immigration, or other legal concerns. For the same reasons, governments do not favor the system, and accusations have been made in recent years that terrorist funding often changes hands through hawala networks. List of charities accused of ties to terrorism During the "war on terror" the names of charities accused of ties to terrorism have been published. Some detainees have been captured largely because they volunteered or worked for these charities. On August 23, 2007 the Bush Presidency announced plans to implement enhanced security checking of the employees of American charities, which receive funds from U.S. Agency for International Development, looking for

those who might have ties to terrorism.[1] Charities which are turned down will not be offered an explanation, or an avenue to appeal the decisions. [edit]Charities accused of ties to terrorism Headquart Name Accusers Alleged Ties ers Afghan Support Pakistan Committee[2][3]

Alleged to have funneled U.S. State support to fighters in Department Afghanistan.

Al-Haramain Foundation[4]

Saudi Arabia

Suspicion fell on Guantanamo detainee Jamal Muhammad U.S. State Alawi Mar'i, in part, because Department he was a volunteer for Al Haramain

Refugee United States

Alleged to have served as a covert funnel for US support of those resisting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[5] Alleged to have trained fighters destined to serve in Afghanistan underOsama bin Laden.[5] Alleged to have provided military and demolition training to those who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993.[5]

Al Kifah Center[3]

Spanish police

Al Wafa[4]

Suspicion fell on Guantanamo detainee Jamal Muhammad Afghanista U.S. State Alawi Mar'i, in part, because n Department he was a volunteer for Al Wafa

Benevolence International Foundation[6]

United States

Alleged to have helped fund Federal the 1993 WTC bombing. Bureau of Placed on the Terrorist Investigation exclusion list.[2]

Bosnia

Branch of the Chicago USA based Benev Federal olence International Bureau of Foundation. Investigation Shut down on US request in 2002

Bosanska Futura[6]

Idealna

Jack Abramoff's Capital United Athletic States Foundation[7][dubi ous – discuss][8][9]

Juan Cole Institut e for Research: Middle Eastern

Allegedly provided sniper equipment and training for Israeli settlers inBeitar Illit [8]

Policy Global Relief United Foundation[6] States

Bosnian offices shut down on Federal US request in 2002 Bureau of Commission of the European Investigation Union froze assets in 2006[10]

Health and Education Project Canada International[11]

Canadian Security Intelligence Service

founded by Ahmed Said Khadr after Human Concern International cut its ties to him

Holy Land United Foundation[12][13] States

United States

On November 10, 2004, convicted by US federal court of funding Hamas, and liable for damages in teen's death.

Human Appeal United International[14] Kingdom

U.S. State Employed Guantanamo Department detainee Boudella el Hajj

Human Concern Canada International[15]

employed Ahmed Khadr until 1995 U.S. military volunteer inAfghanistan

Human Foundation

Israel

Relief United Kingdom

International Saudi Islamic Relief Arabia Organization[3]

Interpal[17]

United Kingdom

Islamic Association United for Palestine[12] States

Said as their director

Proscribed due to alleged ties to Hamas.[16]

being sued by families of the U.S. State victims of the September 11 Department attacks

Sunday Telegraph United States Treasury Department Board of Deputies of British Jews

1997 retraction from Sunday Telegraph of 1996 accusations of Interpal being run by Hamas activists, and funding bombers. Accusation repeated by US Treasury and Board of Deputies of British Jews on web sites in 2003. 2005 apology and out-of-court settlement for libel by BDBJ. Cleared by Charity Commission for England and Wales.

On November 10, 2004, Parents of convicted by US federal court Daniel Boim of funding Hamas, and liable for damages in teen's death.

Jamaat al Dawa al Afghanista JTF-GTMO Quran[18] n

American counter-terrorism analysts at Guantanamo assert this group is an extremist militant group.

Jamat Tabligh[19]

al

Pakistan

"The Jamat al Tabligh, a Pakistani-based Islamic Missionary organization, is U.S. State being used as a cover to mask Department travel and activities of terrorists including members of al-Qaeda"

Maktab-ulKhedamat[20]

Alleged to have been Afghanista U.S. 9-11 transformed by Osama bin n commission Laden into Al Qaeda.[5]

Muslim Aid[3]

United Kingdom

Alleged to U.S. State funded mujahideen Department fighters to Bosnia.

have

Revival of Islamic Heritage Kuwait Society[21]

U.S. State Appears on Department Exclusion List

Sanabal Charitable United Committee[21] Kingdom

"The Sanabal Charitable *U.S. State Committee is considered a Department* fund raising front for UK Police the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group."[21]

Tamils Rehabilitation Canada Organisation(TRO)[ 22]

* FBI

the Terrorism

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER FOR THE POSITION PAPER: 1. The terrorist attacks that have previously taken place in your country and the severity of the attacks. 2. Any previous accusation levelled against your country of supporting terrorism, or causing Human Rights violations on the pretext of curbing terrorist activities. If so, the measure taken by your government in response to these allegations. 3. The Anti-Terror Conventions and Treaties signed and ratified by your country. 4. A brief outline of what your country believes are the possible solutions to issues such as weak border security mechanisms, money laundering, lack of information sharing mechanisms, the use of developing countries as conduits by terrorist organizations and the methods of addressing the root causes of terrorism.