DAMASCUS, 25 August 2004 — A top Hamas official dismissed yesterday US terror-funding charges against himself and two other Palestinians as “old accusations” dusted off to boost anti-terror credentials in a US election year. The United States issued an arrest warrant for Moussa Abu Marzook, deputy chief of Hamas’ political bureau, last week and detained US citizens Mohammed Salah and Abdelhaleem Ashqar.
It accuses the three of laundering millions of dollars through US bank accounts over the last 15 years to Hamas, the Palestinian group behind dozens of suicide attacks against Israel. “These accusations are not new. They have been around since the early 1990s,” Abu Marzook said by telephone, adding that he had been arrested in the United States over similar accusations in 1995 but freed without charge.
“These accusations are being used for electoral gain in the United States, to serve the Zionist lobby by trying to criminalize the struggle of the Palestinian people through this repetition.” Marzook, who lives in Syria, resided in the United States for over a decade. He was deported in 1997 for “terrorist” links after a lengthy period of detention.
The three Palestinians have been charged with racketeering in an indictment which seeks forfeiture of about $2.7 million from accounts they control. Hamas was designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the United States in 1997. Israel assassinated both its founder and chief this year and has promised further killings of militant leaders.
Abu Marzook said Salah, who is also charged with giving material support and resources to a foreign “terrorist” organization, had previously been sentenced by an Israeli court on similar counts and should not be punished again. But he said Hamas would not work for the release of the two detained men. “We have no organization that works with individuals in the United States,” Abu Marzook said.
Both Abu Marzook and Salah have previously been listed as “terrorists” by the United States. All three face up to life in jail if convicted of the racketeering. Providing material support to a “terrorist” organization carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
Abu Marzook is among five top Hamas leaders whose assets have been frozen by Britain over suspected links to “acts of terrorism”, but he has denied such assets exist.
