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In re: TERRORIST ATTACKS ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001., 2012 WL 257568 (2012)

which extended to separate branch offices throughout the world over a period of many years.24 In many cases, these partnerships grew out of the charities’ well publicized sponsorship of bin Laden and the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, a legacy which was well known to the heads of those organizations.25 In the ensuing years, each of these purported charities was repeatedly and publicly implicated in terrorist activities, and yet their support for al-Qaeda continued unabated while under the leadership of defendants.26

In several instances, the Charity Official defendants were directly responsible for appointing senior al-Qaeda members to positions of authority within the purported charities, a pattern that further reflects the intimacy of the partnership between those organizations and al-Qaeda. For *34 instance, while serving as the head of both the Saudi Red Crescent Society and Saudi Joint Relief Committee (“SJRC”), Defendant Dr. Abdul Rahman al Swailem appointed Wa’el Jelaidan to serve as Director of the SJRC’s office in Pristina, Kosovo.27 Jelaidan is a founding al-Qaeda member, whose ties to bin Laden date to the Afghan jihad when Jelaidan served as Director of the MWL’s office in Peshawar, Pakistan and orchestrated that purported charity’s support for the mujahedeen.28 According to U.S. authorities, Jelaidan proceeded to use the SJRC as a front to “move money and men into and from the Balkans” for Osama bin Laden.29 On September 6, 2002, the United States listed Jelaidan as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, explaining that “the United States has credible information that Wa’el Julaidan is an associate of Osama bin Laden and several of bin Laden’s top lieutenants. Julaidan has directed organizations that have provided financial and logistical support to al-Qa’ida.”30

*35 The leaders of the MWL and IIRO similarly ensconced well known bin Laden associates as senior officials of those organizations, thereby providing al-Qaeda with an efficient mechanism to support its global expansion. Defendant Abdullah Naseef met personally with Osama bin Laden around the time of Al-Qaeda’s formation, and reached agreement with bin Laden at that meeting that al-Qaeda would use MWL offices to launch attacks.31 This meeting and agreement are documented in the historical records of al-Qaeda’s formation seized during the 2002 raid in Bosnia.32 Naseef proceeded to leave Wa’el Jelaidan, who to Naseef’s knowledge was responsible for directing the MWL’s assistance for the Afghan mujahedeen and a founding al-Qaeda member, in his position as Director of the MWL, thus ensuring a direct channel for coordinating MWL’s collaboration with al-Qaeda.33

*36 Around this same time, Naseef formed Rabita Trust, appointing Jelaidan to a senior position within that organization as well, as reflected by the Treasury Department’s own press release concerning Rabita Trust’s designation under Executive Order 13224 indicating that “Rabita Trust is headed by Wa’el Hamza Julaidan, one of the founders of al-Qaida with bin Laden. He is the logistics chief of bin Laden’s organization and fought on bin Laden’s side in Afghanistan.”34 In this regard, the MWL-headed Nassef retained Jelaidan as a director of its operations for several years following the establishment of al-Qaeda, despite his close ties to bin Laden and primary role in supporting the jihad in Afghanistan.35 Jelaidan’s role in the MWL allowed the nascent al-Qaeda organization to use the MWL as an “umbrella” under which the terror group’s members could operate, including using MWL offices for launching terrorist attacks.36

Similarly, as head of the MWL, Naseef approved the appointment of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, also a founding al-Qaeda member and bin Laden’s brother-in-law, to head the Philippine office of MWL subsidiary *37 IIRO.37 Through that position, Khalifa used the IIRO as a platform for al-Qaeda’s expansion into Southeast Asia, providing funds and other support through the IIRO for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 “Bojinka” plot to simultaneously bomb multiple airplanes while in transit to the United States.38 The Bojinka plot was conceived by September 11th mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and was a precursor to the September 11th Attacks.39 Khalifa also used IIRO funds and resources to establish Abu Sayyef Group, a Philippine terrorist organization that has served as an al-Qaeda proxy in the Far East since its establishment.40 Appellee Adnan Basha assumed control over the IIRO, after serving as a senior officer of its parent the MWL, in the immediate aftermath of the *38 disclosure of IIRO’s involvement in the aforementioned plots and terrorist activities, and proceeded to expand IIRO’s support for al Qaeda by providing $60 million to fund al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, as confirmed by a 1996 CIA Report.41

The direct involvement of Appellee Aqeel and al-Buthe in orchestrating al Haramain’s terrorist activities was also well documented. As defendant Aqeel himself stated, “[t]he [al Haramain branch] offices’ directors are employees who follow directions of the main office with regards to hiring workers at the offices and making any decisions on cooperation with any party.”42 In designating Aqeel as a terrorist in 2005, the United States asserted that “[t]hese entities and this individual [defendant Aqeel] have provided financial, material and logistical support to the al-Qaida network, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban, fueling and facilitating their efforts to carry out vile acts against innocent individuals and the civilized world.”43 The

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