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Bin Laden linked to Albanian drug gangs
By Colin Brown
21 October 2001
Interpol believes that Osama bin Laden is linked
to Albanian gangs who have taken over a growing web of crime across
Europe.
The investigations into organised crime links
with his terrorist network also show that Mr bin Laden supplied
one of his top military commanders for an elite KLA unit during
the Kosovo conflict.
Gwen McClure of the criminal subdivision of Interpol
revealed the Albanian connection in a briefing to the cross-party
Nato parliamentary group of MPs. She told them that intelligence
showed several Algerian terrorist leaders were present at a meeting
in Albania. Mr bin Laden was known to be in the country at the
time and was believed by Albanian police to have been at the meeting.
"It was during this meeting that many structures
and networks were established for propaganda and fund raising
activities and for providing the Algerian armed groups with logistical
support," she said.
Albanian heroin and gun trafficking gangs mushroomed
during the Kosovo war and are becoming more powerful. They have
taken control of 70 per cent of the heroin market in Germany,
Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries.
The terrorist cells use the criminal networks
to raise money for their attacks. Mrs McClure said: "These
crime syndicates have formed alliances of convenience and are
willing to co-operate or make business arrangements with other
organised crime groups."
An attempt by Interpol to uncover the terrorist
and crime links revealed how one of the leaders of a Chechen criminal
group transferred money received from criminal activities in Russia
to western European countries through offshore banks. The trail
led to Aghmed Ressam, who was arrested in December 1999 while
trying to enter the US from Canada. He was in possession of a
timing device, explosive materials and false identification documents,
and was known to have shared a Montreal apartment with Said Atmani,
a known document forger for a terrorist group with bin Laden links.
The group in Montreal was in contact with individuals
involved in the terrorist support activity in France and with
several mujahedin groups who were active in Bosnia.
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