Albania moves against terrorists' assets

24/10/2005

After a ten month delay, Albanian authorities have seized property in downtown Tirana that was being used to launder financial activities of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

By Erlis Selimaj for Southeast European Times in Tirana – 24/10/05

Authorities seized premises in Tirana's "Twin Towers" belonging to Yasin al-Qadi, a fugitive Saudi businessman, on 18 October. [Gent Shkullaku]

Albanian authorities took possession of office space Tuesday (18 October) at the so-called "Twin Towers" of central Tirana. In 2004, the government confirmed that the location was being used to launder financial activities for the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

The seized premises belong to a fugitive Saudi Arabian citizen named Yassin Qadi, a businessman who was named a specially designated global terrorist by the US Treasury Department in October 2001.

Qadi owned 18 per cent of shares in the two buildings, located opposite the Albanian prime minister's office.

"The seizure procedures are based under the Council of Ministers' decision on 3 December, 2004, in the framework of the measures to prevent terrorism funding. Even though it has been ten months since the decision was taken, it has not been executed until now," the finance ministry said in a press release.

According to the ministry, the premises will not be sold but rather managed by state authorities. One option is to rent them out to state institutions or private firms.

Both the government and the opposition have been anxious to show they are taking the problem of terrorist-related activity seriously. Earlier this year, the opposition Socialist Party vowed to seek a probe into how thousands of foreigners -- including people allegedly linked to Osama bin Laden -- were able to get Albanian citizenship during the last 13 years.

Qadi is thought to have had close links to Abdul Latif Saleh, a Jordanian-Albanian dual citizen who has been designated by the US Treasury Department as an al-Qaeda supporter. According to Washington, he is associated with a number of Albanian NGOs linked to Egypt's Islamic Jihad -- a group with ties to al-Qaeda -- and has received $600,000 from Osama bin Laden to establish extremist groups in Albania.

Saleh set up an Albanian jihadist organisation, financed by the Al Haramain Foundation, with the goal of destabilising Albania by "fomenting conflict among the different religious groups in the country," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

In addition, Saleh and Qadi ran several joint business partnerships, including a sugar importing business, a medical enterprise and a construction business. "Saleh served as the general manager of all of Qadi's businesses in Albania, and reportedly holds 10 per cent of the Qadi Group's investments in Albania," the department said.