Al-Qaida in Iraq explores new ventures in fundraising drive

List of potential activities to fill empty coffers sound more like protection rackets and organised crime scams than jihad Al-Qaida in Iraq has made an online appeal for new fundraising ideas, saying it is in dire need of money to help thousands of widows and children of dead fighters. Insurgents of the Islamic State of Iraq – an umbrella organisation for Sunni militants in the country – have funded their operations in the past by robbing jewellery stores, banks and offices where the government pays out monthly salaries. But the group has seen its main source of money – funding from abroad – dry up, leaving the group strapped for cash. In an Arabic statement posted on AQI’s online forum, website administrator Seif Saad lamented the state of the group’s finances and launched an urgent appeal for money to “feed the widows and the orphans” of mujahideen. “A few days ago a brother was martyred, leaving behind a wife and children. There is no need to explain how we were running here and there to collect money for their minimum requirements of life,” wrote Saad. Among the new ideas to raise funds, Saad suggested insurgents find a way to extort money from foreign oil, construction, transport and mobile phone companies, as well as international media agencies. If the companies refused to pay, insurgents would disrupt their operations. He did not elaborate. He also said businessmen and wealthy families should be forced to pay annual zakat , or charity, which is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and stipulates should be roughly 2% of assets. Saad also called for fines to be imposed on wealthy Shia Muslims in Iraq “who receive aid from America and the west and steal the country’s oil revenues”. Mohamed Abdel-Hadi, who identified himself online as another administrator for the website, dismissed the idea of taking money from foreign companies, but said he strongly supports fining Shias. “All the Shias, including merchants or government officials, are infidels and confiscating their money is part of jihad,” he wrote. Another contributor advised recruiting specialised hackers to transfer money from US banks. al-Qaida Global terrorism Iraq Middle East guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 26, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.