al-Barakat

Al- Barakat or al - Barakaat (Arabic: "blessed" ) is a group of companies founded in 1986 in Somalia. 2001, al - Barakat total active in 40 countries and is the largest company in Somalia; it was mainly active in Geltdtransfer and banking, but also in telecommunications and invested in agricultural projects, construction and hospitals. Every year, U.S. dollars were transferred to Somalia on al - Barakat up to 140 million.

Owner of the company is Ahmed Nur Ali Jimaale.

2001 left the U.S., the overseas remittance business of al - Barakat close, as they have the company accused the Islamist group al -Ittihad al -Islami to communicate and made ​​transfers of funds to terrorists.

History

His breakthrough learned the functioning following the informal hawala money transfer business of al - Barakat after 1991, collapsed and the regular banking system as a result of the Somali Civil War. Hawala was thus the only option for Somalis living abroad to remit money to relatives in Somalia. These remittances are to the economy of Somalia is of considerable importance, many Somalis are dependent on them. Al- Barakat gained a dominant position in this area.

Terrorist financing charges

After the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 al - Barakat came from the U.S. under suspicion with the Islamist group al -Ittihad al -Islami, to communicate and to have made transfers of funds to terrorists. In November 2001, the U.S. forced therefore the closure of overseas money transfer business, although the evidence for the allegations was sparse. This initially had serious consequences for the Somali economy and for persons confined to transfers Somalis. Other vendors filled the resulting gap in the market soon.

In connection with al - Barakat two people were detained in Guantánamo. The Kazakh Ilkham Turdbyavich Batayev was until his dismissal in 2006, four years in prison, in part because he had worked as a " cashier " in an al - Barakat branch in Uzbekistan. The up to now detained Somalis Mohammed Sulaymon Barre had been living in a Pakistani refugee camp and worked for the hawala company Dahabshiil, the connections to al - Barakat had been attested.

2006 left the U.S., the financing of terrorism charges against al - Barakat fall, but at this stage were still about 9 million U.S. dollars of the company blocks in the United States. With effect from 22 October 2009, the UN Sanctions Committee al - Barakat from its Consolidated list could point out thousands of Somalis are to receive outstanding payments blocked.

Swell

  • BBC News: Somalia: The land of opportunity (November 2001)
  • BBC News: Somalia proposal to end banking misery (2002)
  • BBC News: U.S. ends Somali banking blacklist (2006)
  • Reinhard Wolff, taz.de: terrorist money flows back 28 October, 2009
  • Economy (Somalia)
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