Money III.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion.

"Hawala remains a significant method for large numbers of businesses of all sizes and individuals to repatriate funds and purchase gold.... there is minimal paperwork required."

Read here about Hawala. A "banking" system of the Middle East cultural domain! Allows for the transfer of money without the CONVENTIONAL PAPER TRAIL!! A means available to the villains to defeat the "western" intelligence agencies! Intelligence agencies involved in the hunt for terrorists. Agencies hoping to thwart terrorist attacks by stifling and cutting off financial support to the bad guys.

"Hawala, or the Bank that Never Was"

"In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the USA, attention was drawn to the age-old, secretive, and globe-spanning banking system developed in Asia and known as 'Hawala' (to change, in Arabic). It is based on a short term, discountable, negotiable, promissory note (or bill of exchange) . . . [has become] identified with 'Islamic Banking'."

"'Hawala' consists of transferring money (usually across borders and in order to avoid taxes or the need to bribe officials) without physical or electronic transfer of funds. Money changers ("Hawaladar") receive cash in one country, no questions asked. Correspondent hawaladars in another country dispense an identical amount (minus minimal fees and commissions) to a recipient or, less often, to a bank account."

Exchanged expedited by the use of:

* "E-mail"
* "letter"
* "a digital encrypted message"
* "agreed signals (like handshakes"

"The Hawala system requires unbounded trust. Hawaladars are often members of the same family, village, clan, or ethnic group. It is a system older than the West."

NOT SO MUCH OLDER THAN THE "WEST" BUT SURELY MUCH OLDER THAN THE "WESTERN" BANKING SYSTEM AND THE CONVENTIONAL METHODS BY WHICH WIRE TRANSFERS AND SUCH OCCUR!!

A system [Hawala] which can be combated, but with great difficulty:

"Luckily, the common perception that Hawala financing is paperless is wrong. The transfer of information regarding the funds often leaves digital (though heavily encrypted) trails. Couriers and 'contract memorizers', gold dealers, commodity merchants, transporters, and moneylenders can be apprehended and interrogated."

You can bet that bin Laden is more than aware of Hawala and the uses thereof for terrorist financing. Transfers of money, even large sums, that while being not impossible to trace, are much more difficult to trace. A system, too, that is totally devoid, to a great extent, from connection to the "western" banking system! This too would represent a great appeal for a man with such strong Islamic "ideals" as bin Laden and his cohorts, with all the immense hate they have for all things "western".

coolbert.