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Terror Finance Report

IIRO gives clarification
US-based law firm Martin F Mcmahon & Associates, representing the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), has responded to some points in The Daily Star's report headlined “Terror financed due to HSBC failure" which was published on July 18.
In the letter, the firm provided clarifications to some claims made in the HSBC Internal Report. The following is the firm's statement: "First, IIRO is an international humanitarian relief organisation with no less than 60 offices around the world, including in North America. Only two ofthoseoffices — the Indonesian office and the Philippines office—have been designated by the United States Government through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC- an office contained in the US Department of Treasury). Only those two offices of the IIRO are prohibited from conducting business in the United States; all the remaining offices, including the IIRO headquarters located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, are not designated as supporters of terrorism and are free to do business in the UnitedStates.
Second, Jamal Khalifa is dead for many years now. II RO has no affiliation with him. Any affiliation that Khalifa once had with IIRO was limited to the 1980's and early 1990's; during that time he performed humanitarian reliefwork.
Third, the allegations supporting the designations of these two IIRO offices are outdated and are not probative of IIRO's mission and duties today. The IIRO-Philippines office has remained shut since 2004, and ergo, there is no basis for the continuation of that designation today. The Indonesian government has
viewed IIRO as a humanitarian relief organisation andnot a terrorist organisation (the Indonesian Government did not join in the designation of IIRO- Indonesia before the United Nations). In fact, the Indonesian government has welcomed IIRO with open arms. Based on recent correspondences with OFAC, we expect these two designations to beliftedshortly.
Fourth, IIRO has never been criminally prosecuted anywhere in the world on terrorist charges. Indeed, IIRO has consistendy condemned such terrorist acts as being morally wrong and inconsistent with its mission, Le., the provision of humanitarian aid to the destitute and orphans all around the world.
Fifth, IIRO holds an investment account with Social Islamic Bank, but has never been a member of its Board of Directors. IIRO's account with Islamic Bank Bangladesh was closed in August 2010 and IIRO does not have an account with HSBC.
OUR REPLY:
The Daily Star report was completely based on a report, US Vulnerabilities to Money Laundering, Drugs, and Terrorist Financing: HSBC Case History, by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The report was made available on the website of the congressional watch-