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Kuwaiti charity denies Al-Qaeda links
by AFP on Saturday, 14 June 2008
A Kuwaiti Islamic charity whose assets have been frozen by the United States categorically denied on Saturday the allegations that it had links to Al-Qaeda.
"We are a charity organisation that is recognised and supported by the Kuwaiti government... and our accounts are closely monitored by authorities," a senior official from the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) told newswire AFP.
"The charity is well-known to be against terrorism and against Al-Qaeda," said the official, who requested anonymity. "The allegations are totally baseless and fabricated. There is no evidence to implicate us."
The US Treasury Department on Friday froze the assets of the society's Kuwaiti headquarters, and specifically any assets the group holds under US jurisdiction. It also bars US nationals from any transactions with the group.
"RIHS has used charity and humanitarian assistance as cover to fund terrorist activity and harm innocent civilians, often in poor and impoverished regions," said Stuart Levey, under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
The US government applied similar measures to the organisation's offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2002 "based on evidence of their support for Al-Qaeda", the Treasury statement said.
"At that time, there was no evidence that the Kuwait-based RIHS headquarters knew that RIHS-Afghanistan and RIHS-Pakistan were financing Al-Qaeda. Since that time, however, evidence has mounted implicating RIHS-HQ in terrorism support activity," Levey said.
