# Taliban Fundraising via PayPal



## The Bread Guy (13 Dec 2009)

What a difference one less vowel can make.

This link - alemarah.info brings you to the Taliban's news site in Pashto, while this link - alemrah.info (note one less "a") - brings you to a fundraising plea page:







 - here's the GoogleEnglish translation from Arabic:


> Statement Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on the site to donate
> In the name of God the Merciful
> 
> We apologize for the confusion about this new site
> ...



If you look at the bottom of the page, you can use PayPal or major credit cards to help the cause.

Wonder how long this'll stay online?

A bit more here.


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## brihard (13 Dec 2009)

Excellent, leave it up. I'm sure some alphabet agencies in the U.S. will be very interested in seeing who's making donations.  ;D Lots can be learned from credit card or paypal records.


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## The Bread Guy (13 Dec 2009)

You mean the alphabet agencies (generally) with the vowels in the middle?  ;D


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## Edward Campbell (13 Dec 2009)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> You mean the alphabet agencies (generally) with the vowels in the middle?  ;D



Some have vowels in the middle, but some others with consonants (like the _x_*S*_x_ in Fort [insert name of famous US Civil War general here]) will use the data they can mine from e.g. _PayPal_ and credit cards as _steerage_ - to guide them towards more deeply buried, but much more valuable 'treasure.'


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## The Bread Guy (16 Dec 2009)

If one was of a truly "wilderness of mirrors" mindset, is it REALLY a Taliban fundraising site?  Hmmmmmmmmmm.........  I guess we'll have to wait and see if any official denials pop up.


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## The Bread Guy (16 Dec 2009)

After some hunting, I found this at a jihadi forum, posted more than a month ago (Arabic - GoogleEnglish - PDF of both at non-terrorist site):


> Peace be upon you
> I want to inquire of you my dear brother on this site, who says he has pleaded for the Islamic emirate and requests to donate to the Taliban.
> I think my brother to this site from the establishment of intelligence and wants to sign a brotherhood.
> Take your precautions.


Later in the same thread, an alternative theory - an identity thief?


> Because even those who want to donate the sign to do so in a manner very naive
> Because it puts a donation via paypal
> This way those who do not know all the information about the address of the person Envoy to him and the donor and their phones to be linked to their accounts banking
> I think that this is not the work of the intelligence of making a thief
> ...


Still no official denial that I can find from the Taliban info-machine.

Hmmm....  

A bit more here if you're interested.


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## The Bread Guy (17 Dec 2009)

....if there's a link to the site from the Taliban's main Pashto page (screen capture of page at non-terrorist site here - PayPal page link highlighted in yellow on page 3).


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## Sprinting Thistle (17 Dec 2009)

This is online Zakat.  One area where terrorists have found ways around governmental legislation on financing is the internet.  Originally a few jihadist wannabees or supporters started up websites to post videos, establish blogs and chat rooms to discuss ideology and swap experiences or information.  Initially these sites cost little to operate.  However as the terrorist webmasters found the need to upgrade technology to host more information they needed more money to fund the technology.  Hence they turned to criminal activity online to fund their efforts.  In turn their efforts came to the attention of the jihadist leadership who found utility in these new methods of raising funds.  The acquisition of stolen credit card information allowed these operators to make online purchases.  Online gambling websites enabled the laundering of money in combination with stolen credit card information and identification.  For example, one could use a stolen credit card to participate in online gambling and any winnings would be cashed out online into specific bank accounts thus washing the money clean and eliminating any traces of evidence.  Online businesses and charities are also prime movers for attracting funds and funnelling them on to terrorist organizations.  Indeed, online zakat through means such as paypal is relatively easy to perform.


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## The Bread Guy (27 Jan 2010)

Spotted this at a jihadi online forum, with the official graphic and signature block of the Taliban's info machine:


> Inform you that he does not have a note of the Islamic Emirate of any program or site to collect donations on the Web (Internet). Every site or person (on the network) claims that he collected donations for the Islamic Emirate is a charlatan and a liar, which aims to raise money for itself in a way dirty and irresponsible.  We dissociate ourselves from those sites and persons altogether.



In mid-December, the PayPal link appeared on the front page of the Taliban's Voice of Jihad Pashto-language site, but now, it's not there anymore.

Hmmmmm - the wilderness of mirrors continues....

More here.


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## boomer38 (30 Jan 2010)

I guess time will tell all about these kinds of sites and where the root of them actually is. It is scary to believe that peoples credit may be stolen and ruined to fund terrorism in such ways!


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## 1feral1 (30 Jan 2010)

For those "Australians" who want to financially support our enemy....

Para f, sub (i) and sub (ii) got things covered, but would our current left winged federal government do anything??


Australia
Section 80.1 of the Criminal Code, contained in the schedule of the Criminal Code Act 1995, defines treason as follows:

"A person commits an offence, called treason, if the person: 
(a) causes the death of the Sovereign, the heir apparent of the Sovereign, the consort of the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or 
(b) causes harm to the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister resulting in the death of the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or 
(c) causes harm to the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister, or imprisons or restrains the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or 
(d) levies war, or does any act preparatory to levying war, against the Commonwealth; or 
(e) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever, with intent to assist, an enemy: 
(i) at war with the Commonwealth, whether or not the existence of a state of war has been declared; and 
(ii) specified by Proclamation made for the purpose of this paragraph to be an enemy at war with the Commonwealth; or 
(f) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever, with intent to assist: 
(i) another country; or 
(ii) an organisation; 
that is engaged in armed hostilities against the Australian Defence Force; or 
(g) instigates a person who is not an Australian citizen to make an armed invasion of the Commonwealth or a Territory of the Commonwealth; or 
(h) forms an intention to do any act referred to in a preceding paragraph and manifests that intention by an overt act." 
A person is not guilty of treason under paragraphs (e), (f) or (h) if their assistance or intended assistance is purely humanitarian in nature.

The maximum penalty for treason is life imprisonment.

This here is causing a bit of a stir http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/australia-offers-25m-to-taliban-peace-fund/story-e6frfku0-1225824535126

Australia offers $25m to Taliban peace fund 
From correspondents in London From: AAP January 29, 2010 6:03AM Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Email Share Add to Digg Add to del.icio.us Add to Facebook Add to Kwoff Add to Myspace Add to Newsvine What are these? AUSTRALIA is among the first countries to donate towards a new fund designed to encourage the Taliban to lay down their guns in Afghanistan, pledging $25 million. 

Plans for the $US500 million ($560 million) reintegration and peace fund were unveiled as world leaders and foreign ministers from 70 countries attended a one-day conference on Afghanistan's future in London.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith pledged $25 million as part of an extra $100 million Australia will pour into a range of Afghan projects from mine clearing to reconstruction.

Australia's donation to the fund was part of $US140 million ($157 million) worth of pledges made at the conference, which also agreed Afghanistan should take more control of its own security from the end of 2010.

The fund was set up by the Afghan government, which hopes to attract $US500 million worth of donations so it can offer money and jobs to entice moderate Taliban members to stop fighting Allied troops in the war-torn country and rejoin mainstream society.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Conference delegates, including Mr Smith, have demanded they play a part in ensuring the fund is subject to strict financial rules so it is not mismanaged.

Mr Smith denied the fund was designed to effectively bribe the Taliban into giving up their guns.

"It's not about buying them off," he said. "It's about showing to the people of Afghanistan that there is a qualitative difference between a hard-core international terrorist associated with al-Qaeda and a person who wants to partake in Afghanistan society fully ... who eschews violence and who wants to get on with making a better country and a better life for his family.

"We know there are very many people who fight with and support the Taliban who are not international global terrorists, who are not involved in a global jihad but they see no other role for themselves.

"That's why they need to be provided with employment opportunities, they need to be provided with a long-term secure future, they need to be provided with the health and education services that a nation state can provide."

On top of the $25 million donation, Australia will tip another $50 million into the existing Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund and provide $20 million for mine clearance programs.

It will also give $4 million to Asia Foundation programs to support the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture and $1 million to the Afghan Human Rights Commission for projects in Oruzgan province.

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Section 24AA of the Crimes Act 1914 creates the related offence of treachery.

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Now go here.... http://au.messages.yahoo.com/news/politics/683358/ and read what Australians haev to say about it...

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OWDU


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