NatWest closes Interpal's bank accounts 1

Finance | Ian Allsop | 1 May 2007

The bank accounts of Palestinian relief charity Interpal have been closed by NatWest following the pressures of an ongoing court case in the United States where the bank is being sued for supporting a group with links to terrorism.

Last year a group of families of Israeli suicide bomb victims launched a claim against the bank and RBS, its parent group in the US, under the US Anti-Terrorism Act. A preliminary hearing last September permitted the families to proceed with their claim and so exposed NatWest to liability for continuing to provide Interpal with banking facilities.

In a statement Natwest said: 'We have no knowledge of the alleged terrorist activities of either Interpal or other groups named in the complaint. In view, however, of the Court's ruling and the potential for future risk of liability under the Act that it has created, we have regrettably had no alternative but to close Interpal's accounts. We remain confident that its defence of the US proceedings will prevail.'

The Charity Commission is currently pursuing its third investigation into whether Interpal has links with terrorist groups, and in 2003 the US Government froze its bank accounts and blocked its assets in the US. Ibrahim Hewitt, chairman of Interpal's board of trustees, said the bank had been helpful and allowed the charity time to transfer its funds before the account was closed. 'It was almost unprecedented to enable us to discuss the closure before it happened,' he said.

Interpal has now transferred its accounts, which according to Hewitt total some hundreds of thousands of pounds, to the Islamic Bank of Britain and has assured supporters that its work would continue. However, Hewitt added that the move had 'serious implications' for other charities working in areas of political tension.

Directory: Natwest | Charity Commission

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Miles Stuart
3 Jan 2009

This is absolutely outrageous. If Interpal has broken UK law, it should be prosecuted; otherwise it deserves the wholehearted support of the UK government AGAINST this kind of US pressure. US 'intelligence' 'suspicions' are very likely to be motivated by political, rather than judicial considerations. They are utterly worthless.
HAMAS is the de facto government of Gaza, having convincing won the last elections. Of course Interpal will have to have contacts with them, in the same way Oxfam has contacts with Mugabe.
There are 100,000â€™s of Israelis living in Occupied Palestine in breach of Geneva IV and in violation of UK law. Are Lloyds going to close all their accounts?
The rest of the world must call time on the United States ever expanding exercise of extra territorial authority.

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