October 16, 2001	Tuesday	Rajab 28, 1422

RIYADH, Oct 15: Saudi businessman Yassin Abdullah Al-Qadi, whose name appeared on the list circulated by the FBI for alleged links to the Al Qaeda organization, told the local press here that the inclusion of his name was without any evidence and tantamount to human rights violation.

“I don’t have any connections, be it close or distant, with Al-Qaeda or its leader Osama bin Laden, either directly or indirectly,” he told the Asharq Al-Awsat daily.

“I was shocked when my lawyers in Britain informed me that my name was in the list of the people and groups targeted in the campaign to freeze their assets.

I was amazed to see it. What compounded the issue was that they did not think it necessary to ask for any explanation,” he told the daily.

However, he confirmed that his assets have not yet been frozen.

Al-Qadi’s name was put on the list for running a charity, Mowafek Charitable Foundation, which was closed down six years ago. He was one of its founding members.

The organization had carried out charitable activities in Bosnia, where it had undertaken a number of educational and humanitarian projects.