WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. and Saudi governments Wednesday said five more branches of al-Haramain Islamic Foundation were involved in financing terrorist groups.
"Terrorists and their tainted dollars have corrupted charity by using the philanthropic spirit and charitable institutions to further their warped motives," Juan Zarate, the U.S. Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for the Executive Office for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, said in a statement.
The two countries are submitting the entities to the United Nations to be added to the list of terrorists tied to al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, the statement said. Aqeel Abdulaziz Al-Aqil, the former leader of the group, has also been designated, the statement said. Inclusion on the U.N. list requires member states to freeze the assets of the groups.
Treasury is designating al-Aqil and the branches of AHF in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Netherlands to its list of terrorist financiers.
