The President's mercenary

Jean-Guy Allard

Juan Zarate, the high-ranking official responsible for dealing 
with terrorism in the US Treasury Department — the agency that 
is paralysing the application process for thousands of Cuban 
Americans wishing to visit their families in Cuba — is 
maintaining his long-standing and cordial relationship with the 
Saudi Government. To such an extent that he organised a press 
conference on the subject of funding terror on June 2 at the 
embassy of Saudi Arabia; a country that many people suspect is 
strongly implicated in financial support for terrorism.

Zarate is the same individual who recently announced that the 
Treasury Department's Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 
does not have the necessary personnel to process licence 
applications for the thousands of Cuban-Americans who wish to use 
their "right" to travel to Cuba, now confined to once every three 
years.

On June 1, 2004, White House-accredited press correspondents 
received a strange invitation from the Treasury Department's 
Public Relations Office. They were invited to the Saudi Arabian 
Embassy at 11am the following day for a meeting on the subject of 
"joint efforts with Saudi Arabia in the financial war on terror".

It was announced that Juan Zarate, deputy secretary of the 
Department, in co-ordination with the US State Department and the 
Saudi Arabian Government, would speak on those joint efforts and 
that the discussion would include a briefing with Zarate and 
officials from the State Department and the Saudi Government.

The invitation revealed that in addition to Zarate, the meeting 
was to include a State Department co-ordinator and no less than 
His Excellency Adel Al-Jubeir, special foreign policy advisor to 
His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of 
Saudi Arabia.

The head of the Saudi diplomatic representation in Washington is 
the controversial ambassador, Bandar bin Sultan, who was 
mentioned by Michael Moore in his documentary Fahrenheit 
9/11.

An article in Newsweek in December 2002 revealed that the 
diplomat's wife, Princess Haifa bint Faisal, sent cheques worth 
$150,000 to the wife of Omar al-Bayoumi, an accomplice of Khalid 
Almidhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, two of the Saudi terrorists 
implicated in the events of September 11.

Fifteen of the 19 terrorists in the catastrophic attack were 
Saudi Arabian citizens. The majority of them lived and trained in 
Jeb Bush's Florida without the FBI — then under the direction of 
Hictor Pesquera in Miami — discovering their presence. Pesquera 
devoted his time to pursuing "Cuban agents" infiltrating Cuban-
American terrorist groups in South Florida, a top priority task 
for the administration.

At that time, the High Prince's advisor explained to the press 
that Princess Haifa bin Faisal's action was the result of "her 
tremendous generosity". Quite simply that.

However, the British police finally arrested al-Bayoumi in the 
city of Birmingham and discovered a telephone bill on which calls 
appeared showing the numbers of two diplomats from the Saudi 
embassy in Washington.

The FBI was able to establish there were direct links between 
Omar al-Bayoumi — who was released and is back in Saudi Arabia -
- the family of Princess Haifa bin Faisal and Osama bin Laden.

Newsweek revealed that according to several Saudis who 
knew him, al-Bayoumi was a well-known member of the intelligence 
services in his country.

Terrorist links

The Saudi monarchy depends on the military and economic power of 
the United States, but, according to experts, in terms of calming 
internal opposition they had no other option but to finance the 
al-Qaida terrorists who attacked the United States.

With the aggressive intolerance with which the Bush Government 
condemns and even punishes people and nations for maintaining any 
relations it considers dubious — and even journalists as in the 
case of al Jazeera — one would expect that Zarate would maintain 
a certain distance between himself and the Saudi officials, 
particularly with well-known figures such as al-Jubeir.

But there's more. The FBI has also discovered direct links 
between various Saudi charitable organisations and terrorism 
funding. In particular, it identified the International Islamic 
Relief Organisation (IIRO) as a provider of millions of dollars 
to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

At a press conference in Washington in December 2003, Adel al-
Jubeir, advisor to Prince Abdullah and Zarate's privileged 
interlocutor, affirmed that no such links existed. However, at 
the June 2 press conference, he said exactly the opposite.

He announced the nationalisation of all charitable organisations 
within the Wahabi Kingdom[of Saudi Arabia] in order to merge them 
into one, under state control.

In the luxurious salons of the embassy, he appeared alongside his 
friend Zarate. The latter, in an extremely cordial manner, 
publicly referred to him by his first name only — Adel — 
leaving aside his surname and numerous honourable titles.

Some months ago, two senators, Bob Graham (D-Florida) and Richard 
C Shelby (R-Alabama), accused the Bush administration of refusing 
to declassify information demonstrating possible links between 
Saudi Arabia and terrorism "because it did not want to bother the 
Saudis" or threaten its "special" links.

Remember how, when he was attempting to film outside the Saudi 
embassy, Michael Moore discovered that this delegation is 
protected by the Secret Service, the presidential security 
service — a unique case in the diplomatic world of Washington.

Zarate travelled to Saudi Arabia on at least three occasions: in 
December 2002, then with his boss Secretary John Snow — who is 
also obsessed with Cuba — in September 2003, and finally with 
Frances Fragos Townsend (one of Condoleezza Rice's advisors) in 
December 2003.

The privileged relationship of Zarate, who is responsible for 
investigating the financing of terrorism, and the Saudis — who 
are suspected of having financed terror — is still more 
surprising in terms of the violent condemnations of the Saudi 
kingdom expressed by human rights organisations. They confirm 
that the numerous political prisoners detained without charges or 
trials for indefinite periods are frequently subjected to torture 
and are denied the right to legal representation. And don't even 
mention women's rights.

Anti-Cuban connection

In the White House, when it comes to looking after your buddies, 
no one cares about these considerations. Just as no one cares 
that Zarate's privileged interlocutors in Miami are known 
terrorists or have links to anti-Cuban terrorism. When the time 
comes to secure votes with the capos, no principle is worth 
anything.

When directing his troupe of Office for Foreign Assets Control 
(OFAC) investigators, Zarate does not get confused either.

And this is how the OFAC has dozens of officials to harass people 
who dare to travel to Cuba without its blessing whilst there are 
no staff to process their travel requests.

With respect to the investigations into the financing of 
terrorism, there is no hurry either.

Last March 24, by pure chance Zarate gave a talk on Saudi Arabia 
and "the struggle against terror financing" before a Congress 
committee presided over by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American 
congress-woman linked to notorious Miami terrorists including 
Orlando Bosch — this last described by the FBI itself as the 
most dangerous terrorist in the hemisphere. Ros-Lehtinen has 
encouraged and contributed to campaigns supporting terrorist 
groups and maintains wide links with numerous individuals linked 
to terrorism.

She is the daughter of Enrique Ros, who was the first co-
ordinator of the Movimiento Demscrata-Cristiano counter-
revolutionary organisation, and then conspired within the Frente 
Revolucionario Democratico and the Consejo Revolucionario Cubano, 
a creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

It is nothing strange that Zarate is responsible for both the 
Saudis and the anti-Cuban economic repression within his 
department.

Both tasks are priorities for George W Bush. Protecting his 
financial interests in the world of oil and his relationships 
with the Saudis who so greatly support his financial adventures, 
and guaranteeing his re-election in Florida thanks to the 
manoeuvres of Cuban-Americans from the Batista generation.

And, for this reason, Zarate is exactly the mercenary that the 
President needed.