It's a problem when a wealthy specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) threatens to bring a lawsuit.
This just happened to me. It began when The Washington Times ran my article, "Turkish Support for ISIS," on June 18, 2014. It included a sentence stating that
Critics note that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has met three times with someone, Yasin al-Qadi, who has close ties to ISIS [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] and has funded it.
 Yasin al-Qadi. |
The Times initially responded feistily; but, after researching the matter, an editor informed me on June 30 that, even though I merely reported what others said about Qadi, the paper lacked adequate confidence in my Turkish sources to do battle against Qadi in an American court of law. The editor said the newspaper would comply with Qadi's demands and urged me to do the same.
Not eager for a lawsuit initiated by a Saudi fat-cat over a sentence the accuracy of which I myself was not 100 percent confident, I agreed to the apology that Qadi dictated being posted on the Washington Times's website.
Needless to say, taking these steps rankled. Even as I complied with some of Qadi's demands (the article, not the apology, remains at DanielPipes.org), I determined to learn more about him.
As best as I can tell (Qadi has refused to reply to my queries about his biography), he was born an Egyptian in Cairo on Feb. 23, 1955. On completing his studies in Egypt, he practiced architecture in Chicago. His connections to Saudi Arabia include his father moving there, Yasin working on a university building project there, marrying a Saudi woman, and becoming vice president of the Jamjoom Group, the industrial conglomerate owned by his father-in-law.
Acquiring Saudi nationality, he became active in Islamic banking and Islamic philanthropy, establishing the Muwafaq Foundation ("Blessed Relief") in May 1992. Muwafaq soon became the preferred conduit for Saudi elites to fund Islamist causes in such inflamed regions as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan. Throughout the 1990s it left a complex trail of alleged connections to terrorism that piqued law enforcement and diplomatic concern; the U.S. State Department, for example, analyzed Muwafaq's activities in multiple cables.
Qadi has also been connected to many organizations other than Muwafaq associated with terrorism, including BMI Inc., Al-Iman University, Maram, Ptech, and the Quranic Literacy Institute. Recipients of his largess are said to include the Al-Gama'at al-Islamiya, Hamas, Al-Haramain Foundation, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al-Qaeda.
Suspicions of Qadi climaxed in October 2001, when the U.S. government placed him on its list of specially designated global terrorists, a then-newly minted category of foreigners found "to pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism" against the United States. The Treasury Department designated Muwafaq "an al-Qaeda front." Qadi persistently attempted to be removed from the SDGT list. A U.S. District Court dismissed his lawsuit in March 2012.
Qadi represents the most brazen and elusive form of jihad financier, one whose ubiquity and sophistication keep him from being convicted of crimes. For example, his seven meetings with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan provide Qadi with high-level connections and new sources of funds. His aggressiveness, such as that directed against The Washington Times and me, discourages discussion of his activities.
If Qadi's two decades of funding jihadi violence is beyond doubt, what remains to be established is his critics' assertion that, in my paraphrase, he "has close ties to ISIS and has funded it."
Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2014 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.
Aug. 13, 2014 update: David L. Phillips of Columbia University writes at CNBC.com on "Why is Turkey supporting Islamic State fighters in Iraq?":
According to a March 2010 report of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, IHH had an annual budget of $100 million with field operations in 120 countries. IHH works with Muslim Brotherhood affiliates worldwide. The first known shipment of weapons to "Brothers" in Syria occurred in September 2012. Free Syrian Army commanders learned that a boat loaded with weapons docked in Syria. It was registered to members of IHH.
Major contributors to Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party are "encouraged" to make contributions, lest they fall from favor and lose government contracts. IHH also receives money from international sponsors. IHH is financed by Yasin Al-Qadi, a wealthy al Qaeda-linked Saudi businessman with close ties to Erdogan. IHH is an affiliate of the Saudi-based "Union of Good." Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, an advocate of suicide attacks in Israel, chairs the "Union of Good." Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a radical cleric and "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the United States in 2004, serves on its board. In 2010, the German branch of IHH was banned for links to jihadist activity. The U.S. Department of State listed the Union of Good as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
Aug. 14, 2014 update: Presumably under pressure from Qadi, that CNBC article has disappeared. It can be found at Pakistan Defence.
Sep. 2, 2014 update: More information on the Erdoğan-Qadi relationship at "Eski Mali Şube müdürü: Erdoğan yasaklı El Kadı'ya sahte pasaport verdirdi" in Diken.
Oct. 15, 2014 update: F. Michael Maloof writes at WorldNetDaily, " Source: ISIS opens consulate in NATO member's capital; Alleged move implies political recognition of jihadist group." It includes this passage:
Middle East sources also tell WND that Bilal Erdogan, son of Turkey's newly elected Islamic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is working with Yassin al-Qadi, a Saudi businessman, who last year was linked to al-Qaida. He is on the U.S. Treasury Department's Specially Designated Global Terrorist list. Qadi separately has denied any linkage to al-Qaida.
Because of the designation, Qadi was supposed to be banned by Turkey from entering the country. But last December there were reports he had entered the country multiple times without the need of a passport or visa and was escorted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan's protective detail, when Erdogan was the prime minister.
The same sources add that Qadi now is in the ISIS leadership.
Nov. 26, 2014 update: The Obama administration removed Qadi's SDGT status today.
Jan. 19, 2015 update: Diken now has published "Erdoğan'ın 'aile dostu' El Kadı'ya 'terörist' diyen CHP'li Ağbaba'ya jet fezlike."
July 11, 2015 update: Ali Aslan Kiliç quotes Atilla Kart, former member of the parliamentary Constitutional Committee, in Today's Zaman: "There is proof that Yasin al-Qadi was in touch with MİT. Qadi's transactions were revealed in the Dec. 17-25 operation."
Mar. 16, 2020 update: Abdullah Bozkurt provides information on another link between Qadi, Erdoğan, and the Sunni jihad in Syria.
Apr. 1, 2020 update: Nordic Monitor adds to the Qadi-Erdoğan connection at "Turkish ambassador to Qatar assisted one-time al-Qaeda financier with citizenship applications."
Apr. 16, 2020 update: Nordic Monitor: "İlker Aycı, then-president of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) and current Turkish Airlines (THY) board chairman, facilitated the investments and private businesses of one-time al-Qaeda financier Yasin al-Qadi, confidential documents have revealed."
Apr. 24, 2020 update: Nordic Monitor notes in passing in an article on a quite different topic:
İlker Aycı, the then-president of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) and the current Turkish Airlines (THY) board chairman, met with one-time al-Qaeda financier Yasin al-Qadi on August 19, 2013 in order to facilitate al-Qadi's investments and private businesses in Turkey.
June 24, 2020 update: Another tidbit from Abdullah Bozkurt at Nordic Monitor, "Erdoğan tried to cover up accident involving one-time al-Qaeda financier in Turkey." It recounts in detail how Erdoğan "attempted to cover up a traffic accident that involved a one-time al-Qaeda financier [i.e., Yasin al-Qadi] whom he had flown in from abroad to meet with and discuss Turkey's policies on Syria and Egypt while pursuing corrupt business schemes with him in a blatant abuse of power." Erdoğan needed to cover up the accident because the visit took place when Qadi "was still listed as an al-Qaeda financier on the UN and US sanction lists. He was barred from entering to Turkey under Turkish laws; yet, Erdoğan helped him gain entry to Turkish territory secretly and illegally. He was meeting with Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, then-Prime Minister Erdoğan and his son Bilal as well as Erdoğan's business associates."
June 12, 2023 update: Abdullah Bozkurt reports that
Ibrahim Kalın, Turkey's newly appointed intelligence chief, secretly met with Yasin al-Qadi, a close friend of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who for years was listed as an al-Qaeda financer by both the UN Security Council sanction committee and the US Treasury.
He provides details.
