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to "promote children's rights, health, equality and education," in the oil-rich kingdom....
The U.S. Treasury Department has designated the IIRO's branches in the Philippines and Indonesia as terrorist entities for funding and supporting terrorist groups that have killed hundreds in East Asia. The Philippine branch was founded by Usama bin Laden's brother-in-law, Muhammad Jamal Khalifah, and has long had ties to Al Qaeda.The U.N. itself says that both the Indonesian and Philippine branches of IIRO are tied to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and has singled them out for an asset freeze, arms embargo and travel ban on members of the groups.
According to Chris de Bono, UNICEF's chief of media, "UNICEF does not and will not engage with" the two East Asian branches. Its new partnership is with the main Saudi branch only, and UNICEF will coordinate relief primarily for children living within Saudi Arabia, de Bono said.
"We have to look a lot harder at whether or not an organization that's headquartered in one country is really disconnected from operations which bear the same name in other countries and are referred to as branches," said Anne Bayefsky, senior editor of Eye on the U.N., a watchdog group.According to the Treasury Department, the head of the IIRO's Eastern Province branch has been directly funding the two terror-tied branches - straight from his office in Saudi Arabia.Abd Al Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, who runs the Eastern Province branch, has been called the "million dollar man" for his support of Islamic militant groups, and the Treasury Department says he has provided donor funds directly to Al Qaeda.
The United Nations children's charity fund UNICEF has severed its ties with billionaire Lev Leviev of Israel, because of Arab allegations he funds Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. The Arab organization Adalah-NY (The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East) boasts on its website that the decision "followed meetings with Adalah-NY...."
Reuters that it was UNICEF's policy to have partners who were "as non controversial as possible."