Global Relief Foundation

The Global Relief Foundation (GRF), also known as Foundation Secours Mondial (FSML), was an Islamic charity based in Bridgeview, Illinois, until it was raided and shut down on December 14, 2001, and listed among the "Designated Charities and Potential Fundraising Front Organizations for Foreign Terrorist Organizations" ("DCPFFOFTO") by the United States Treasury Department in 2002. According to the US Treasury, "The Global Relief Foundation (GRF) and its officers and directors have connections to, and have provided support for and assistance to, Osama bin Laden (OBL), al Qaeda (aQ), and other known terrorist groups (OKTG)."

The GRF began operations in the United States as a tax exempt, non profit, charitable organization in 1992 and quickly became the largest Islamic charity in the U. S. The organization initially had a budget of $700,000. By the end of the 1990s GRF was reporting $5 million in annual donations, and 90% of that money was shipped abroad. Some materials distributed by GRF at this time glorify martyrdom through jihad and state that donations will be used to support the Mujahedin. GRF had overseas offices in Islamabad, Pakistan; Brussels, Belgium; Sarajevo, Bosnia; Zagreb, Croatia; and Baku, Azerbaijan. Makhtab al Khidamat was founded by Osama bin Laden's mentor Abdullah Azzam. In 2002, it was reported that Nabil Sayadi, the group's European director, was "a close collaborator" with Wadih el Hage. Wadih el Hage is alleged to have been a personal aide to Osama bin Laden, who was convicted of involvement in the American embassy bombings. Sayadi claimed that El Hage had approached the foundation about funding a malaria abatement program in Africa, which was refused as it was out of the foundation's scope. Sayadi maintains that any contact with El Hage was "absolutely innocent." Haddad was arrested by the INS on immigration charges when the group's offices were raided, and later deported to Lebanon. Lawyers representing the organisation accused the US government of a "disregard for civil rights and constitutional rights" in the wake of 9/11 and believed the connection between Global Relief and terrorism to be "weak", criticised the "guilty by association" policy and the use of "secret evidence rules" granted under the Patriot Act. According to the Treasury Department, GRF helped fund a number of al Qaeda sponsored activities, including bombings of the U. S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and armed action against groups perceived to be un Islamic. GRF sought redress in Federal court, challenging the government's authority to shut the charity down and seeking an injunction to stop the seizure of its money and assets. In November 2001, the GRF sued The New York Times, the Associated Press, ABC, and The Boston Globe for defamation after various news outlets reported on GRF ties to terror financing and fundraising. The suit was dismissed by the U. S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on December 1, 2004. The court's opinion stated that "All of the reports were either true or substantially true recitations of the government's suspicions about and actions against GRF." In 2004, a federal appeals court found that the GRF's case against these media outlets was without merit. GRF has stocked and promoted audio tapes and books which glorify armed jihad, including "The international conspiracy against Jihad" and "The Jihad in its present stage." GRF published several Arabic newsletters and pamphlets that advocate armed action through jihad against groups perceived to be un Islamic. For example, one 1995 GRF pamphlet reads "God equated martyrdom through JIHAD with supplying funds for the JIHAD effort. All contributions should be mailed to: GRF." Another GRF newsletter requested donations "for God's cause – they [the Zakat funds] are disbursed for equipping the raiders, for the purchase of ammunition and food, and for their [the Mujahideen's] transportation so that they can raise God the Almighty's word . it is likely that the most important of disbursement of Zakat in our times is on the jihad for God's cause . ." In November 2001, during the airstrikes in Afghanistan, a GRF medical relief coordinator traveled to Kabul, against the advice of the U. S. Department of State, and engaged in dealings and negotiations with Taliban officials until the collapse of the Taliban regime. GRF received $18,521 from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) in 2000. HLF, a Dallas, Texas based Islamic charitable organization, was designated under E. O. 13224 on December 4, 2001, and under the European Union's Regulation (EC) No. 2580/2001 on June 17, 2002, for its ties to terrorism.