Suspect Financial Office Closed in Yemen [Archives:2001/48/Front Page]

A Sana’a-based office of the Baraka Financial Group, which was accused by the U.S. of funding terrorism, was temporarily shut down by Yemeni security authorities, Yemeni informed sources said on Monday.
Investigations were underway to check whether the office, as the U.S. claimed, had managed funds belonging to the al-Qaida network of Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 terror attacks in the U.S..
The office is expected to be reopened this week in case the charge proves to be baseless, the sources said.
Earlier, the U.S. put the group, which handles money transfers around the world, on a list of organizations whose assets should be frozen on charges of using their profits to fund Osama’s al-Qaida network.
At the U.S. request, the Yemeni Central Bank has already frozen accounts of individuals and groups on the list of organizations suspected to be terrorism-related.

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