The Golden Chain
The "Golden Chain" is a list of purported sponsors of Al Qaeda that was seized in March 2002 in a raid by Bosnian police of the premises of the Benevolence International Foundation in Sarajevo. The list includes at least 20 top Saudi and Gulf States financial sponsors including bankers, businessmen, and former ministers. Part of the list includes a computer file titled "Tarekh Osama" or "Osama History", but the appellation "Golden Chain" itself is due to al Qaeda defector Jamal al-Fadl, who vouched for its authenticity.
Most accounts are vague on what year the Golden Chain document was written; some say 1988.[1] but U.S. counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke says it dates from 1989. The "Golden Chain" was presented by the U.S. government in the criminal case United States v. Arnaout filed on January 29, 2003, and in other legal filings, which would cause its veracity and meaning to be brought under further scrutiny.
List of sponsors
The donors named include:
Adel Batterjee
Adel Batterjee is a wealthy Saudi businessman who is also the founder of both BIF and its predecessor, Lajnatt Al-Birr Al-Islamiah. He appears to be mentioned as a recipient three times.[2] The United States declared him as a terrorist financier in 2004.
"The Bin Laden Brothers"
Their first names are not mentioned. They give money to Osama bin Laden. UPI will later point out that "the discovery of this document in Sarajevo calls into question whether al-Qaeda has received support from one of Osama’s scores of wealthy brothers".[citation needed]
Suleiman al-Rasheed
Al-Rasheed Trading & Contracting (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
Ibrahim Muhammad Afandi
Notable affiliations include:
- Board member, Ibn Baz Foundation (President: Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, VP: Abdulaziz bin Fahd)
- Board member, International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO)
- Chairman, Al Afandi Establishment (Jeddah)
- CEO Al Afandi Germany (Frankenberg)
- CEO, Sky Muzn Holding Co. BV (Netherlands)
- CEO, Saudi Industrial Services Company (Sisco) with partners Xenel Industries and Dallah Al-Baraka
- Founder, Great Saudi Development & Investment Co. (GSDIC)
- Founder, Arabian Company for Development and Investment Limited (ACDIL)
- Chairman, National Committee of Saudi Contractors Partner, African Company (Sudan), with Al Rajhi Bank and Dallah Al-Baraka
- Former General Manager and shareholder of al-Amoudi Group
- Owner, Gang Ranch (Canada), second largest ranch in North America
- Owner, Skylight Corp, Georgia, USA
- Owner, BSA Investments (complaint from LTV Steel Company, Inc)
- U.S. address: 6914 Los Verdes Drive, Apt 6, Rch Palos Vrd, CA 90275
Saleh Abdullah Kamel
Born in 1941, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saleh Abdullah Kamel is CEO of Jeddah-based Dallah Al-Baraka, the 3rd largest commercial entity in Saudi Arabia. Other notable affiliations include:
- Chairman Arab Radio & Television (ART)
- Founding member and shareholder, Al Shamal Islamic Bank (Khartoum, Sudan)
- Partner, Tamlik Company Ltd (with Mohamed Binladen Co., Saleh Bin Laden)
- Shareholder, Jordan Islamic Bank
- Vice Chairman Bank Al Jazeera
- Founder, Iqraa International Foundation
Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi
Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi is one of Saudi Arabia's leading commercial figures and philanthropists, overseeing a financial empire of some $28b in assets.
- CEO, al-Rajhi Bank
- Board member, International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO)
- Board member, Ibn Baz Foundation
al Rajhi also created the SAAR Foundation, which was shuttered in the wake of a March, 2002 raid by customs officials under the auspices of Operation Green Quest.
Abdel Rahman Hassan Sharbatly
Abdel Rahman Hassan Sharbatly was the founder of Riyadh Bank, the 2nd largest Saudi commercial bank. Other affiliations include:
- Board member, Beirut Ryad Bank SAL (with Prince Khaled bin Turki and Abdullah Taha Bakhsh)
- Board member, Saudi Arabian Refinery Company (Chairman Prince Khaled bin Turki, directors include Kaaki (bin Mahfouz) and Al Rajhi)
- Shareholder, Middle East Capital Group (shareholders include Abdullah Taha Bakhsh, Sami Baarma – National Commercial Bank)
- CEO, Saudi Arabian Marketing Agencies and Company Ltd (Shareholder: Mohammad Bin Laden)
- Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen dealer
- Shareholder, Egyptian Gulf Bank
- Shareholder, Golden Pyramids Plaza Co
- Shareholder, Savola Snack Food Co. Ltd (with Saleh bin Mahfouz and Abdullah Taha Bakhsh)
Khaled bin Mahfouz
Khaled bin Mahfouz was, before his death in 2009, one of the leading figures in Saudi banking circles.
- Former COO, BCCI
- Former CEO, National Commercial Bank
- Founder, Muwafaq Foundation
- Founder, International Development Foundation
Bin Mahfouz has written on his website that he has "never knowingly made any donation to Al Qaeda or to any organization or person acting on Al Qaeda's behalf or to any other terrorist organisation."[3] He engaged in extensive litigation against individuals associating him with terrorism (see Khalid bin Mahfouz).
Abdel Qader Faqeeh
(Adel Faqih, etc.). Affiliations include:
- Board member, Ibn Baz Foundation
- Chairman, Bank al Jazeera
- Chairman, Savola Group (with Sharbatly), merged with Azizia Panda (owned by Al-Waleed bin Talal) - 13th largest Saudi company
- Chairman, Makkah Construction & Development Company
Ahmad Turki Yamani
(Ahmed Zaki Yamani, etc.). Born 1930, Mecca, son of former Saudi Chief Justice. Affiliations:
- Former Saudi minister of petroleum and mineral resources
- Former director, ARAMCO
- Founder, Investcorp (Board members include Abdullah Taha Bakhsh, Dr. Abdulhady Taher)
Abdel Hadi Taher
- CEO, Taher Group of Companies, 52nd largest Saudi company
- Owner, Marketing General Trading Corp (Jeddah)
- Shareholder, Arab Company for Hotels & Contracting Ltd (with Ahmed Zaki Yamani)
- Former Minister of State Former Governor of the Saudi state oil company Petromin ), under responsibility of Ahmed Zaki Yamani
- Former director, Saudi European Bank (Paris), held 25% of the bank shares along with Ahmed Zaki Yamani
Mohammed Omar
No information available.
al Kuwait
al Kuwait, or al Kuwaiti, Sheikh Abu Ahmed, a Pakistani man born in Kuwait. Abu Ahmed is the "courier" whose discovery led to the finding of the location of Osama bin Laden.[4] He is also reportedly a part-owner of the compound in which Osama was living at the time of his death.[5]
Ahmad al Harbi
- CEO, Ahmad Al Harbi Group
L'Investigateur notes, "L'Houssaine Kherchtou testified on February 21, 2001, during the trial of suspected al-Qaida militants in connection with the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, that he was welcomed at Miram Shah guest house in Pakistan before joining Al-Qaida by 'Abu Ahmed al Harbi'."
Mohammed al-Issai
(al-Issaie, etc.). Affiliations:
- Board member, Saudi Research & Marketing Company (with Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi, Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Abdullah Bin Khalid Bin Mahfouz, Dallah Albaraka Group) - 20th largest Saudi company
- CEO, Al Issai Trade Company (Daimler-Chrysler representative)
- Deputy Chairman, Arab Cement Company (shareholders include Saudi Binladin Group, Bin Mahfouz, Al Rajhi - Chairman: Turki Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud)
Recipients
Major recipients include:
Osama bin Laden (deceased)
Received donations from the most prominent in the list: Bin Laden Brothers, Al Rajhi, Sharbatly, Bin Mahfouz, Adel Faqih, Al Kuwait
Wa'el Hamza Julaidan
Wa'el Hamza Julaidan was one of the four founders of al Qaeda in August 1988.
- Previously (1984) established the "Service Office" or Maktab al-Khidamat in Afghanistan, along with bin Laden and Abdullah Yusuf Azzam.
- Former Secretary General of the Muslim World League and Rabita Trust in Pakistan, designated by the United States Treasury as SGDT. The Trust has received donations from Suleiman Al Rashid, Abdul Tahi Taher
Adel Baterjee
By varying accounts Baterjee is also listed as a recipient.
Abu Mazin
(Mazin M. etc.). Affiliations:
- Son of Mohammed Saleh (brother of Osama Bin Laden father's wife and tutor of the Bin Laden family after patriarch Mohammad Bin Laden's death in 1968)
- Shareholder, Triple B Trading GmbH (Germany) - with Hassan Bahfzallah and Shahir A. I. Batterjee
- Secretary: Abdul-Martin Tatari
- Receives donations from Hamad Al Hussaini
Sale Taher
Receives donations from Ahmad Al Harbi and Mohammed Al Issai and Osama Bin laden.
See also
References
- ^ Wall Street Journal, 3/18/2003
- ^ United Press International, 2/11/2003
- ^ Bin Mahfouz Information
- ^ Goldman, Apuzzo, Adam, Matt. "Phone Call by Kuwaiti Courier Led to Bin Laden". ABC News / US. Retrieved 05/03/2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Walsh, MacAskill, Burke, Declan, Ewen, Jason (2 May 2011). "Osama bin Laden Killed in US Raid on Pakistan Hideout". Guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
External links
- Excerpt: The Osama bin Laden I know
- L'investigateur - tous droits rèservès
- Sophistpundit - The Golden Chain
- Context of '1988: ’Al-Qaeda’ Possibly the Name of a Computer Database at Cooperative Research
- Der Spiegel, "Osama's Road to Riches and Terror"
