Ties between al Qaeda, organised crime limited

BRUSSELS, March 24 (Reuters)

There are links between al Qaeda and organised crime in parts of the world, but the relationship is not as deep or involved as sometimes made out, a leading expert on terrorism financing said. Al Qaeda's operation in the Sahara region has raised its profile in recent months with high-value hostage-takings and cocaine smuggling that U.N. terrorism monitors estimate could have raised more than $10 million for the group. But the relationship is generally opportunistic and there is little hard evidence Islamist militant movements like al Qaeda are building intricate ties to major crime networks.

Posted on 28 March 2010 @ 18:08