The Harper government has revoked the registration of a longtime Canadian charity, the World Islamic Call Society, that it says was established as a front by Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi to funnel money to terrorists the world over.

Gadhafi charity in Canada linked to terrorism
Government revokes status of World Islamic Call Society
Webarchive / Archive.Today
By Gary Dimmock,
The Ottawa Citizen
May 7th 2011

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According to government documents obtained by the Citizen, the World Islamic Call Society, based in London, Ont., has been transferring money from Gadhafi’s “Jihad fund” to bank accounts of known terrorists.

A payment of $170,814.20 was made to Jamaat al-Muslimeen, a terrorist group known for a campaign of rape, torture and murder, according to the documents. This same group once attempted to overthrow the elected government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Canada Revenue Agency financial documents also show that the Canadian charity transferred $10,000 directly to the terrorist group’s leader, Yasin Abu Bakr.

In Gadhafi’s scheme, according to federal government files, money was wired in U.S. funds to the personal bank account of Assem Fadel, then transferred to the bank account of the World Islamic Call Society’s Canadian branch, only to be distributed to known terrorist organizations.

Fadel, 75, is the president of the Islamic Call Society’s sole Canadian franchise, located on Kent Street in London, Ont.

“The allegations are unbelievable,” Fadel said, when told the society had been linked to the JFK plot.

Asked why money from Gadhafi’s jihad fund would be transferred to his own bank account and then deposited into the charity’s bank account, Fadel told the Citizen that he handled the money personally because the deposits were in U.S. funds.

“The charity doesn’t have a U.S. bank account so the money came to me and I distributed the money as directed by the mother organization in Libya,” Fadel said.

Fadel said he will not appeal the government’s March 26 ruling to revoke the registration of his charity, saying it’s too much of a “hassle.”

“We’ll just keep doing our work without the charitable status,” said Fadel, who last saw Gadhafi in Tripoli on Feb. 14.

Because the organization’s charitable status has been revoked, it will now have to pay taxes and will no longer have the ability to issue tax-deductible receipts.

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Because the money was first deposited directly into Fadel’s personal bank account, the Canada Revenue Agency ruled that the charity served only to benefit its director, Fadel. That, according to the government, is against charity law.

In fact, some of the Gadhafi money was used to rent office space for the charity in a building owned by Fadel, who also runs a travel agency known for organizing trips to Saudi Arabia.

Documents show that Fadel wired the Gadhafi funds to organizations and individuals in the United States, Trinidad and Egypt.

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The 2007 bombing plot at John F. Kennedy International Airport was foiled by an FBI informant. The plot, which, according to government documents, was linked to a terrorist group funded by the Canadian charity, intended to blow up fuel pipelines that run underground to the airport.

That terrorist group was wired at least $180,000 through the Canadian charity, according to government documents and Fadel, the president of the revoked charity. The government cited reports from The Associated Press in making the link between the World Islamic Call Society and the JFK plot.

The group’s leader, Yasn Aby Bakr, has denied any links to the JFK bomb plot, though U.S. authorities cited the organization several times in its criminal complaint.

Federal government documents also show Gadhafi directed money to six organizations in the United States and to a bank in Egypt.

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Some payments, he said, were given to women to pay for their children’s university education, while other funds were wired by Fadel to Muslim leaders and think tanks, according to government documents and Fadel.

The Harper government says that the charity wasn’t actually doing any charity work.

Additional Information on World Islamic Call Society(WICS):

The Muslim Brotherhood and Gaddafi were partners not too long ago by Point de Bascule

Gaddafi: The Steyn connection by Mark Steyn

Dumont_Kadhafi: ses liens avec le Canada