CBC News Indepth: Osama bin Laden

INDEPTH: OSAMA BIN LADEN
Osama bin Laden's Frozen Assets
CBC News Online | March 5, 2004

American President George W. Bush signed an executive order the morning of Sept. 24, 2001 that freezes Osama bin Laden's financial assets residing in the United States. The order will prevent any transactions made in the United States by the 27 different organizations suspected of channelling funds to bin Laden's activists. The organizations include:

al-Queda (a.k.a. Islamic Army): This worldwide organization with cells in several countries was set up by Osama bin Laden in the 1980s to unite Arabs who fought Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. The group's main goal is to eliminate all non-Muslim regimes and in 1998 it stated that Muslims have a duty to kill Americans and their allies.

Abu Sayyaf Group: This terrorist organization has about 200 members operating in the southern Philippines and Manila, and partakes in bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and extortion in the name of Islam.

Armed Islamic Group: The group is an extremist cell based in Algeria, formed in 1992 after the government voided the victory of the country's largest Islamic party. Osama Bin Laden has been connected to the organization, which conducts frequent attacks including the hijacking of an Air France flight to Algiers in 1994.

Harakat ul-Mujahidin: This organization is a militant group with several thousand armed members based in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan conducting terrorist activities primarily in southern Kashmir. The army, which is closely linked to the Taliban government and operates in the name of Islam, employs machine guns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives and rockets.

Al-Jihad (a.k.a. Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Jihad Group): This extremist organization, blamed for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, works closely with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida. Since the 1970s, Al-Jihad's main goals have been to replace the Egyptian government with an Islamic state and to attack American and Israeli interests. Its locations include Cairo, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Lebanon and the United Kingdom.

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan: This movement is comprised of a militant force based in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan reportedly responsible for various car bombings and kidnappings, including four American mountain climbers in 2000.

Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC): The GSPC is formerly a faction of the Armed Islamic Group, but split off in 1998. The group operates primarily in Algeria and is supported through racketeering, smuggling and Algerian support networks.

Islamic Army of Aden: Members of this group were arrested in June, found with explosives, small arms and a map of the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The Islamic Army of Aden is affliated with Osama bin Laden and has also been implicated in the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in October 2000.

Osama bin Laden: This son of a billionaire Saudi family is said to have inherited approximately $300 million (US). He is identified by American authorities as the mastermind of the attacks on the World Trade Center and of the bombings of U.S.embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998.

Muhammad Atif (a.k.a. Sobhi al-Sitta, Abu Hafas al-Masri): Atif is the commander of the Islamic Army for the Liberation of Holy Sites, which claimed responsibility for the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. He is wanted in the United States in connection with those bombings.

Ayman al-Zawahri: Al-Zawahri is an Egyptian surgeon and Osama bin Laden's chief deputy. He is the leader of Egypt's Al-Jihad, a group known for participating in assassinations, such as that of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981. He is under sentence of death in his native country.

Wafa Humanitarian Organization: This Saudi group's operations include food distribution and construction of a clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Al Rashid Trust: This Pakistani charitable organization operates bakeries in Kabul, Afghanistan. It has close ties to the Taliban and shares its views regarding Islam. The trust also played a role in getting images of Buddha statues reportedly destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001 of out of Afghanistan.

Asbat al-Ansar

Libyan Islamic Fighting Group

Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI)

Sayf al-Adl

Shaykh Saiid (a.k.a. Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad)

Abu Hafs the Mauritanian (a.k.a. Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, Khalid Al-Shanqiti)

Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi

Abu Zubaydah (a.k.a. Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, Tariq)

Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi (a.k.a., Abu Abdallah)

Thirwat Salah Shihata

Tariq Anwar Al-Sayyid Ahmad (a.k.a. Fathi, Amr al-Fatih)

Muhammad Salah (a.k.a. Nasr Fahmi Nasr Hasanayn)