The Niqabi Paralegal

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been aggressive in their prosecution of Al-Haramain Foundation, a Saudi charity organization. They allege that some branches of Al-Haramain have funneled money to Al-Qaida and they are seeking to freeze Al-Haramain's funds. Caught in the middle of this are 6,000 Somali orphans.

On February 2, 2004, eleven Somali orphanges were forced to close due to lack of funds. 6,000 orphans and 500 employees relied on these orphanages, the former for care and the latter for jobs in this war-torn country with no central government.

The Somali branch of Al-Haramain was designated as having connections with terrorism on March 11, 2002, along with the Bosnian branch. On January 22, 2004, Al-Haramain branches in Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, and Tanzania were also designated as terrorist sponsors. Al-Haramain denies the charges and says that it is only engaged in charity work for the poor.

Will Al-Haramain be able to defend itself in court against the charges? Will those of its funds that are clearly being spent only on charitable purposes be unfrozen? Or will the Somali orphans and perhaps many others who rely on support from Al-Haramain be left to fend for themselves, innocent victims of the war on terrorism?

© 2004 Solidarity USA