#1 UNICEF cuts ties with Lev Leviev
Jun. 21, 2008 JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1213794292578&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

A UN agency has severed ties with Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev over
allegations that he helped fund construction in the West Bank, Reuters
reported on Friday.
According to the report, Leviev, who is the chairman of Africa Israel
Investments, is in charge of at least one company in his conglomerate which
the Arab rights advocacy group Adalah-NY claims built Jewish settlements on
West Bank land.

Adalah-NY launched a campaign against Leviev whereby they appealed to the UN
children's fund UNICEF to cut its connection with the Israeli businessman,
the report said. UNICEF has received direct and indirect funding from Leviev
over the years.

Following its review of the charges set by Adalah-NY, the UN group decided
to end its relationship with Leviev after concluding that there was "at
least a reasonable grounds for suspecting" his company had supported West
Bank construction, Reuters reported.

"I can confirm that UNICEF has advised Adalah in New York that it will not
be entering into any partnerships or accepting financial contributions from
Lev Leviev or his corporate people," Chris de Bono, a senior adviser to the
executive director of UNICEF, told Reuters.

"We are aware of the controversy surrounding Mr. Leviev because of his
reported involvement in construction work in the occupied Palestinian
territory," de Bono said, adding that it was UNICEF's policy to have
partners who were "as non-controversial as possible."

#2 UNICEF Partners With Islamic Charity Linked to Terror Groups
By Joseph Abrams Fox News Thursday , June 19, 2008
www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,366319,00.html

An Islamic charity with ties to Al Qaeda and the Taliban is now
collaborating with an unlikely new partner: UNICEF, the United Nations'
Children's Fund.

UNICEF has signed a "memorandum of understanding" with the International
Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), a Saudi charity of massive scope that
keeps branches in more than 20 countries and has over 100 offices worldwide.

According to UNICEF, it will be teaming with the charity's domestic Saudi
branch to "promote children's rights, health, equality and education," in
the oil-rich kingdom - but the organization has been doing more than just
charity work.

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.

But that hasn't stopped the U.N. from recognizing the Saudi office as a
legitimate relief group, nor has it stopped UNICEF - or other U.N.
agencies - from working with it in the past.

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.

The U.S. government also noted the distinction between the head office and
the international branches.

"We are monitoring the situation closely, but we also understand the
difference between the IIRO main headquarters and its branches," Carolyn
Vadino, deputy spokeswoman for the U.S. mission to the U.N., wrote in an
e-mail to FOX News.

"It is the two branches in question that are designated and have ties to
terrorists and at this time we have been assured that they are separate
entities," Vadino wrote.

But some critics are not convinced the distinction is so clear.

"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.

According to UNICEF, there isn't yet a financial relationship with the IIRO,
but joint programs launched in the future could change that. That has some
critics worried about a potential for money to make its way into the wrong
hands.

"The risks involved in funding terror are sufficiently great that UNICEF
officials and other U.N. officials who accredit this organization are called
upon to assure themselves that there are no ties," said Bayefsky.

The IIRO's Indonesia branch was discovered by FOX News to still be operating
despite being on the U.N.'s own terror list. Questions to the Indonesian
mission to the U.N. have gone unanswered.

And while UNICEF's Gulf-area office vetted the Saudi charity's domestic
office in June, it would not confirm whether it had investigated the Eastern
Province branch or its sources of financing.

Bayefsky told FOXNews.com that even such vetting might not be enough.

"One has to remind oneself over and over again that the United Nations has
no definition of terrorism," she said. "It's very hard to investigate and
object to links to terrorist groups when you don't know what [terrorism]
is."