CIA report reveals U.S. knew Saudi-backed charities tied to terrorism in 1996

A CIA report from 1996, obtained by investigators for the lawyer suing a number of Islamic charities on behalf of victims of the 9/11 attacks, reveals that the U.S. government knew that over one-third of the Islamic charities operating throughout the world were aiding known terrorist groups.

Many of the charities detailed in the report are Saudi-sponsored and official Saudi government charities are implicated in supporting terrorism. These charities include the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and the Saudi High Commission, the official Saudi government organization for collecting and distributing aid, which the report accuses of ties with Hamas and Algerian extremists.

According to the report IIRO is affiliated with the Muslim World League, a major international organization financed by the government of Saudi Arabia. It goes on to say that IIRO is connected to both Osama bin Laden and Ramzi Youseff, the man convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

In March 2001 Operation Green Quest, the interagency task force searching for terrorist financing, raided the U.S-based Success Foundation, which is alleged to be IIROs sister organization. Success is headed by Abdurahman Alamoudi, who has publicly supported Hamas and Hezbollah, and has been invited to White House briefings and met with the President (see picture).