SAAR Foundation

The SAAR Foundation was a flagship corporation representing charities, think tanks, and business entities. SAAR was named after its founder, Saudi patriarch Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi, a man close to the Saudi ruling family and on the Golden Chain, a list of early al-Qaeda supporters.[1] SAAR is alternatively referred to as the Safa Group.[2] The SAAR Foundation, which was dissolved in December 2000,[3][4] achieved prominence as the key subject of a March 20, 2002, raid by federal agents, as a part of Operation Green Quest. The raid was carried out over suspicions by the U.S. Treasury Department that the group was laundering money for Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups.[5] In 2003, they were accused of large scale money laundering for terrorist entities.[2]

  1. ^ "SAAR Foundation". www.historycommons.org.
  2. ^ a b Emerson, Steven (2006). Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US. Prometheus Books. ISBN 9781615920556.
  3. ^ A NATION CHALLENGED: THE INVESTIGATION; U.S. Examines Donations Of 2 Saudis to Determine If They Aided Terrorism, The New York Times, March 25, 2002
  4. ^ A Court Sheds New Light on Terror Probe, The New York Sun, March 24, 2008
  5. ^ Miller, Judith (21 March 2002). "A NATION CHALLENGED: THE MONEY TRAIL; Raids Seek Evidence of Money-Laundering". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2016.