Southeast Asia In the wake of the
9/11 destruction of the World Trade Centre twin towers, it was alleged that one of
Osama bin-Laden's brothers-in-law (
Mohammed Jamal Khalifa who was subsequently murdered in Madagascar in 2007) utilised the IIRO Philippines and Indonesian Branches to work with terrorist organizations in the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere. According to researcher Zachary Abuza, Khalifa established several charities and Islamic organizations in the Philippines ostensibly for charity and religious work but which channeled money to extremist groups. in early 1995.) A Philippines intelligence report claimed that while the IIRO "claims to be a relief institution" it "is being utilized by foreign extremists as a pipeline through which funding for the local extremists" travels. On August 3, 2006, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the Philippines and Indonesian branch offices of IIRO as terrorist entities. – and then after a petition had been made to the UN Ombudsperson, delisted them in 2014. At the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States,
Steven Emerson, identified IIRO as a major radical Islamic institution, in part, "responsible for fueling Islamic militancy around the world", and,
Rohan Gunaratna, Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore, stated, "...
Mohammed Jamal Khalifa is the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden. He arrived in the Philippines in 1988 and he became the founding director of the International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia. He used the IIRO to funnel al Qaeda funds to the
Abu Sayyaf group and the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front." As well as being designated by the US Treasury in 2006, The Philippines and Indonesian branch offices of IIRO were also delisted by the US Treasury Department on the 16 August 2016. and several Egyptian Islamist accused of terrorist activities were arrested in 1998, particularly after the
1998 United States embassy bombings. It has also been alleged that Abd al Hamid Sulaiman Muhammed al-Mujil, who was the regional manager of the eastern office of IIRO in Saudi Arabia between 1986 and 2006 was involved in financing terrorism via both the Philippines and the Indonesian branches of IIRO. The accuracy, reliability and veracity of this accusations has always been strongly denied both by IIRO and by Abd al Hamid Sulaiman Muhammed al-Mujil – who after presenting a petition to the UN Ombudsperson was removed from the UN Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee's Sanctions List on July 1, 2013, more than 6 years after he had ceased to be employed by IIRO. IIRO has always maintained that it has only ever been solely concerned with providing humanitarian aid wherever it is most needed irrespective of ethnic background, nationality, social status or belief.
De-listing from suspected terror list In 2009, IIRO petitioned the Security Council for removal of these two branches from the list in January 2010, and as a result on January 6, 2014, the
Security Council Committee removed the IIRO offices in Indonesia and the Philippines from this Al-Qaida Sanctions List after concluding its consideration of the delisting requests for these names submitted through the Office of the UN Ombudsperson established pursuant to
Security Council resolution 1904 (2009), and after considering the Comprehensive Reports of the Ombudsperson on these delisting requests. As a result of the UN delisting, the EU also delisted the Indonesia and Philippines Branch Offices of IIRO. and the United Kingdom
HM Treasury Financial Sanctions Notice (dated January 14, 2014) confirmed the deletion of IIRO
Philippines and
Indonesia branches from its consolidated list of persons and entities having a connection with
Al-Qaida. None of the member states represented on the Committee appears to have objected to the de-listing. Subsequently, the Philippines and Indonesian branch offices of IIRO were delisted by the US Treasury Department on August 16, 2016. ==Current status==