NARRATIVE SUMMARIES OF REASONS FOR LISTING
QI.B.182.04. Adel Abdul Jalil Ibrahim Batterjee
Date on which the narrative summary became available on the Committee’s website: 13.08.2009
Adel Abdul Jalil Ibrahim Batterjee was listed on 23 December 2004 pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 16 of resolution 1526 (2004) as being associated with Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf, or in support of” the Benevolence International Foundation (QE.B.93.02) and Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01).
Additional information:
Adel Abdul Jalil Ibrahim Batterjee has employed his private wealth and a network of charitable fronts to bankroll Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01).
Batterjee founded Lajnat al-Birr al-Islamiah (LBI) in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in or about 1987. LBI is the precursor organization to the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) (QE.B.93.02). Batterjee founded LBI with the purpose of providing financial and operational support to fighters in Afghanistan and around the world, including fighters associated with Usama bin Laden (QI.B.8.01) and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (QI.H.88.03). LBI was affiliated with the Al-Qaida-controlled Maktab al-Khidamat, and later affiliated with Al-Qaida upon dissolution of Maktab al-Khidamat.
In the early 1990s, Batterjee’s LBI also began operating under the name of “Benevolence International Foundation” in an effort to widen its appeal to the general public and increase its credibility with governments. BIF and LBI remained one organization under Batterjee’s control. Their assets were interchangeable.
In 1993, Batterjee incorporated the organization in the United States as the “Benevolence International Foundation” (BIF), serving as both a board member and the executive director. BIF continued the mission of LBI, providing financial and operational support to fighters worldwide, including members of Al-Qaida in Afghanistan, Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Chechnya, the Russian Federation. In about 1993, Usama bin Laden confirmed that BIF was among the NGOs that provided funds to Al-Qaida.
Batterjee subsequently resigned as director of BIF and personally selected Usama bin Laden’s confidant Enaam Arnaout to serve as the organization’s head. Arnaout, while employed with LBI and BIF in the late 1980s and early 1990s, worked with members of Al-Qaida to procure weapons for use in Al-Qaida training camps. While employed by Batterjee at LBI, Arnaout reported outside the usual chain of command, directly to Batterjee. Although Batterjee had officially resigned as director of BIF, he continued to play an important role in the financing of BIF.
Evidence of BIF’s ties to Al-Qaida surfaced in March 2002 searches by Bosnian authorities of BIF’s offices in Sarajevo, which uncovered numerous handwritten documents detailing the origin and history of the Al-Qaida organization. One document contained a list of wealthy financiers of Usama bin Laden’s operation. This list contained 20 names with a notation after each name, likely indicating the person who received money from the specific donor. Usama bin Laden and Batterjee appeared in the same document.
In October 2002, Batterjee was named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the U.S. indictment of Arnaout, based upon his role in BIF. On 10 February 2003, Arnaout pleaded guilty to criminal racketeering conspiracy for diverting BIF funds to pay for supplies to armed fighters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Chechnya, the Russian Federation.
Related listed individuals and entities:
Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01), listed on 6 October 2001
Benevolence International Foundation (QE.B.93.02), listed on 21 November 2002
Usama Muhammed Awad bin Laden (QI.B.8.01), listed on 25 January 2001
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (QI.H.88.03), listed on 20 February 2003