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 Harkat-
ul-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 al-
Faran 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 10-
year 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 counter-
operations 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 well-
developed 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 mid-
August 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 re-
integration 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 HIV-
infection, 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
Alleged to have funneled
Afghan Support U.S. State
Pakistan support to fighters in
Committee[2][3] Department
Afghanistan.
Suspicion fell on Guantanamo
detainee Jamal Muhammad
Al-Haramain Saudi U.S. State
Alawi Mar'i, in part, because
Foundation[4] Arabia Department
he was a volunteer for Al
Haramain
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
Al Kifah Refugee United Spanish
in Afghanistan underOsama
Center[3] States police
bin Laden.[5]
Alleged to have provided
military and demolition
training to those who bombed
the World Trade
Center in 1993.[5]
Suspicion fell on Guantanamo
detainee Jamal Muhammad
Afghanista U.S. State
Al Wafa[4] Alawi Mar'i, in part, because
n Department
he was a volunteer for Al
Wafa
Alleged to have helped fund
Benevolence Federal
United the 1993 WTC bombing.
International Bureau of
States Placed on the Terrorist
Foundation[6] Investigation
exclusion list.[2]
Branch of
the Chicago USA based Benev
Federal
Bosanska Idealna olence International
Bosnia Bureau of
Futura[6] Foundation.
Investigation
Shut down on US request in
2002
Juan
Jack
Cole Institut Allegedly
Abramoff's Capital
United e for provided sniper equipment
Athletic
States Research: and training for Israeli
Foundation[7][dubi
Middle settlers inBeitar Illit [8]
ous – discuss][8][9]
Eastern
 Policy
Bosnian offices shut down on
Federal
Global Relief United US request in 2002
Bureau of
Foundation[6] States Commission of the European
Investigation
Union froze assets in 2006[10]
Canadian founded by Ahmed Said
Health and
Security Khadr after Human Concern
Education Project Canada
Intelligence International cut its ties to
International[11]
Service him
On November 10, 2004,
Holy Land United United convicted by US federal court
Foundation[12][13] States States of funding Hamas, and liable
for damages in teen's death.
Human Appeal United U.S. State Employed Guantanamo
International[14] Kingdom Department detainee Boudella el Hajj
employed Ahmed Said
Human Concern Khadr until 1995 as their
Canada U.S. military
International[15] volunteer director
inAfghanistan
Human Relief United Proscribed due to alleged ties
Israel
Foundation Kingdom to Hamas.[16]
International being sued by families of the
Saudi U.S. State
Islamic Relief victims of the September 11
Arabia Department
Organization[3] attacks
1997 retraction from Sunday
Telegraph of 1996 accusations
of Interpal being run
Sunday
by Hamas activists, and
Telegraph
funding bombers.
United
Accusation repeated by US
States
United Treasury and Board of
Interpal[17] Treasury
Kingdom Deputies of British Jews on
Department
web sites in 2003.
Board of
2005 apology and out-of-court
Deputies of
settlement for libel by BDBJ.
British Jews
Cleared by Charity
Commission for England and
Wales.
On November 10, 2004,
Islamic Association United Parents of convicted by US federal court
for Palestine[12] States Daniel Boim of funding Hamas, and liable
for damages in teen's death.
American counter-terrorism
Jamaat al Dawa al Afghanista analysts at Guantanamo
JTF-GTMO
Quran[18] n assert this group is an
extremist militant group.
 "The Jamat al Tabligh, a
Pakistani-based Islamic
Missionary organization, is
Jamat al U.S. State
Pakistan being used as a cover to mask
Tabligh[19] Department
travel and activities of
terrorists including members
of al-Qaeda"
Alleged to have been
Maktab-ul- Afghanista U.S. 9-11
transformed by Osama bin
Khedamat[20] n commission
Laden into Al Qaeda.[5]
Alleged to have
United U.S. State
Muslim Aid[3] funded mujahideen
Kingdom Department
fighters to Bosnia.
Revival of Islamic
U.S. State Appears on the Terrorism
Heritage Kuwait
Department Exclusion List
Society[21]
"The Sanabal Charitable
*U.S. State Committee is considered a
Sanabal Charitable United
Department* fund raising front for
Committee[21] Kingdom
UK Police the Libyan Islamic Fighting
Group."[21]
Tamils
Rehabilitation Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Canada * FBI
Organisation(TRO)[ Eelam
22]

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.