Glance at Islamic terror money (AP)
By The Associated Press 40 minutes ago
A look at the ways analysts say al-Qaida and other Islamic terrorist groups get money and how it has changed over time:
• Soviet war in Afghanistan:
Many Islamic terror groups have their origins in the Soviet war in Afghanistan that started in 1979. During the war, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other countries funded Islamic militants who eventually drove the Soviets to withdraw in 1989.
• Al-Qaida's early years:
Saudi Arabia denied Osama bin Laden access to much of his inherited wealth in the early 1990s after he became critical of the Saudi royal family. He then relied more heavily on wealthy donors and Islamic charities in the Gulf.
A U.S. investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks said it cost al-Qaida an estimated $30 million per year to sustain its activities before the attacks — with almost all the money raised through donations.
A 2004 U.S. investigation found banks in the United Arab Emirates had unwittingly handled most of the $400,000 spent on the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
• Post-Sept. 11 attacks:
Crackdowns on banks and other financial institutions by the U.S. and its allies disrupted terrorist financing networks in the wake of Sept. 11.
The groups continue to rely heavily on wealthy donors and Islamic charities in the oil-rich Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia.
The groups have also benefited from the drug trade in Afghanistan that boomed after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Former U.S. drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey estimates al-Qaida and the Taliban are principally funded by some $800 million from the drug trade.
• Related groups and sympathizers:
Spanish officials have said illegal drug sales funded the Madrid train bombings in 2004. The U.N. estimated those attacks cost only about $10,000.
British officials say the terrorists who carried out the 2005 London subway bombings financed themselves by defaulting on a personal loan and overdrawing bank accounts. The British estimated those attacks cost about $15,000.
Analysts say individual terrorist attacks are cheap but it costs much more to support large-scale terrorist networks like the ones al-Qaida and the Taliban have on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
