WASHINGTON - Most of al Qaeda's wealth has been converted into gold and diamonds and is now beyond the reach of banks, leaving the group with enough funds to stage more attacks.
Swiss Attorney-General Valentin Roschacher, overseeing his country's efforts to track al Qaeda's assets, said European prosecutors believe it had
transferred most of its assets from cash to other valuables before the September 11 attacks.
Asked if the finances of Osama bin Laden's group were still intact, Roschacher said, "Yes, absolutely. When I talk to my colleagues in Europe they share the same opinion.
"They are able to function and we believe they still have enough money to possibly carry out other attacks."
He said there was consensus on this among officials in Italy, France, Liechtenstein and Germany - all major banking states.
"If you compare the number of millions blocked all over the world and the estimate of Bin Laden's worth and that of his group, you come to the conclusion there is a lot of money not yet found," Roschacher said.
Switzerland has frozen 24 million Swiss francs ($34.68 million) of assets in its criminal investigation as part of United States-led efforts to choke off financial backing for those it blames for the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
Roschacher was in Washington to sign a deal with US Attorney-General John Ashcroft meant to help co-ordinate investigations in the two countries.
Under the agreement, two US customs agents are in Switzerland and four Swiss police agents have joined US investigation teams.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that the al Qaeda network and the Taleban militia had sent several shipments of gold to Sudan in recent weeks.
Sudanese officials denied the report, which said the gold was sent by boat from Pakistan to Iran or the United Arab Emirates, and then by chartered airplanes to Khartoum.
Roschacher said investigations had not uncovered a direct Swiss link to the September 11 attacks.
"To our knowledge today, Switzerland did not play a crucial role or a main-player role," he said, adding it was too early to tell whether the country's banks were used by the al Qaeda network for some transactions.
- REUTERS
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