The Business of Terrorism and Paramilitarism Bill Tupman Unit for Research on Community Safety University of Exeter

Terrorism or Paramilitarism? Terrorism implies illegitimacy Paramilitary a more neutral term Don’t want to get into arguments about the legitimacy or otherwise of a particular organisation No organisation of this type can survive without being legitimate for someone somewhere.

The survivors IRA, UDA, UVF et al. ETA FLNC, Corsica FARC, Colombia Tamil Tigers Middle East groups, like Hezbollah Afghan veterans now Al Qaeda associates

How have they survived? By organising funding streams for: Training Weaponry Food, shelter Prisoner and prisoner family support Publicity Overground support groups and political parties

Statement of income

Statement of expenditure

Old and New sources of funding Armed Robbery Extortion kidnap ransom Voluntary contributions Overseas diaspora foreign state support sale of literature Fraud Drugs Clubs Gambling counterfeit products legitimate businesses stock market manipulation franchising

Terrorism needs an economic base as well as weapons successful terrorist groups create a profitable business terrorist groups that survive turn their hands to crime: mafia, triads violence is itself a business, or at least a service that can be bought and sold As Howard Marks said to Jim McCann: “if you’re smuggling guns, you can smuggle drugs. You’re in the smuggling business”

ETA Picture now emerging as Spanish government prosecutes Herri Batasuna 10% tax Kidnapping Allegedly 30+ militants for hire in South America

The Narcotics question FARC most frequently accused But all groups have been accused at one time or another Is it just propaganda or is there evidence? Or does organised crime have to pay protection like any other business in order to operate in these guys’ area?

Osama bin Laden Danger of making him into a Superman Did he start with $300 million, or less? How many banks did he or his associates own? How many businesses? Did he make a profit? He funded governments

5 principle sources of funding [Senator Bayh] Own money Wealthy individuals in the Gulf Front companies run at a profit Illegal activities eg smuggling, money- laundering Charities, both directly and by “skimming”

In the Sudan El-Hijrah Construction and Development Wadi al-Aqiq export-import Taba investment [global stock markets] part-owner el-Shamal Islamic Bank farms [peanuts, sunflowers cattle-breeding] Laden International export-import Bakery, Furniture International al-Ikhlar Co. [honey]

Elsewhere at same time Sanctions-busting for Sudan: to disguise product origin, used Cyprus and other countries Kenya: ostrich farms and shrimp boats Turkey: forests Africa [Sierra Leone?] diamond mines Tajikistan: agriculture minor projects as cover for terrorist ops.

Second Afghan period Al Barakat and al Taqwa Al Barakat is Somalia’s largest company and part owns the Somali Internet Company. It provides money transfer services for the Somali diaspora Al Taqwa also provides money transfer. Has offices in Lugano, Switzerland

Non-business sources of funding Private individuals contribute, either because they believe or because they wish to avoid trouble States, too, allegedly Charitable and relief organisations. US list includes Wafa Humanitarian Org. Was he smuggling Afghani Opium?

Charities US has designated 7 foreign charities as having links to al Q And closed two US-based ones as having links to bin Laden and the Taliban Holy Land Foundation, largest US-based Islamic foundation has had assets frozen because of links to Hamas

Al Qaida is more than bin Laden “Islamic World Front for the Struggle against the Jews and the Crusaders” included estimated 24 groups, all of which would have own funding set-ups Egyptians, Jordanians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Syrians, Algerians, Sudanese, Tunisians, Moroccans, Palestinians, Pakistanis, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Philippinos, Saudis,Chechens, Albanians, Bosnians

Difference between Al-Q and the IRA IRA is multistate operator: UK, Ireland, USA, Australia, Sweden, Netherlands May run [or have capitalised] some pub chains, a pizza chain and a baked potato chain BUT only makes £10-15 million per annum AND that’s a high percentage of turnover at 50-75%

Al-Qaida Bin Laden reckoned he lost $ million on projects in the Sudan Bankrolled Taliban to tune of $100 million We have no idea what he spent in Chechnya, Somalia, Bosnia or elsewhere So the outgoings are much higher than the IRA example

Outgoings To be able to afford gifts of $20 million plus per annum to governments and to be able to bankroll his own private army of at least 5,000 and to supply money to 23 other organisations [unless some of these are in profit] Annual income must be a lot more than IRA

Income? Personal funds: say 10% of $300 million would be $30 million Donations from individuals: $30 million? Zakat/ charities: say $10 million States: wouldn’t settle for less than $10m Businesses? Can this be separated from personal investment above? $80 million per annum?

Outgoings [2] September 11 th operation alleged to have cost $700,000 Money transferred through perfectly legal and open channels Are operations individually budgeted? And how are country campaigns budgeted?