Accounts of charity frozen over terror links
Chancellor Gordon Brown has frozen the accounts of another Al-Qaeda suspect - the Benevolence International Foundation - for being 'extensively involved in funding international terrorism'.
Link: Brown to freeze assets of Bali blast suspect
He issued a statement from the Treasury describing the body as ‘an extremely threatening fundraiser’ claiming personal contact between senior BIF officials and Al-Qaeda operatives involved in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa and attempts by Al-Qaeda to obtain uranium to build a nuclear weapon.
The statement said the Charity Commission was taking action against the similarly-named Benevolence International (UK) without immediate grounds for suspecting it and is freezing the charity’s accounts ‘as a temporary and protective measure’.
The action follows the arrest of suspect terrorists charged with having false papers amidst reports – officially denied – of a plot to gas commuters on London’s Underground. No mention was made of any connection in the statement.