Global Governance: The Case of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Report‪)‬

Global Governance: The Case of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Sheik Saeed, a key al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, was asked in a May, 2007 interview, "what are the [most important] needs of Jihad in Afghanistan?" He responded that the foremost need is financial, and added that "there are hundreds wishing to carry out martyrdom-seeking operations, but they can't find the funds to equip themselves. So funding is the mainstay of Jihad" (Shapiro, 2009: 1). This casual quote reveals the central importance of financing to terrorist operations. The money required to carry out a terrorist operation is channeled to training camps, weapons, travel, payouts, and propaganda. Both American and British governments claim that they had successfully thwarted terrorist attacks in Bali and Heathrow, respectively, by tracking money linked to financing of planned attacks. Thus, following the money trail and stopping terrorist financing could lead to a decline in terrorist incidents.