RIYADH, 27 August — A Saudi charity, blacklisted by Washington for suspected links to Al-Qaeda network, has denied reports that its Kabul headquarters housed a terrorist laboratory, Al-Watan newspaper reported yesterday.
International peacekeepers in Kabul said on Sunday that Afghan police had found a store of chemicals in offices once used by the Al Wafa Humanitarian Organization. The local press said they had been used for terrorist purposes.
Al-Watan quoted Mohammed Eidah Al-Matrafi, a member of Al Wafa and brother of its director, as saying the organization had no links to Al-Qaeda.
Matrafi, who did not comment on the report that chemicals had been found, said Al Wafa was considering suing the United States for alleging that it funded terrorists in Afghanistan.
Al Wafa is on a US blacklist for suspected links to Osama Bin Laden, accused by Washington of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
“My brother and I have repeatedly said we have no terrorist links and that any organization, official or non-governmental, is free to come and investigate our headquarters,” he said.
“We are only helping the Muslim people of Afghanistan.” Afghan authorities say Al Wafa provided aid to Al- Qaeda and Afghanistan’s former ruling Taleban, driven from power by US-led air attacks and local opposition forces last year.
The charity’s director, Abdullah, is among 125 Saudis detained at a US base in Guantanamo for allegedly supporting Al-Qaeda.
The Arman-e-Millie daily newspaper carried a report from the official Bakhtar News Agency saying the discovery included 36 types of chemical, explosives, fuses and terrorist guide books.
