Washington, Oct 07: US Federal Bureau of Investigation funneled money to deadly Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas at a time when President Bill Clinton was trying to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a media report has revealed. Funneling money to suspected Hamas figures was a sting that FBI conducted to see if the militant group would use it for terrorist attacks, according to interviews and court documents, the report said. The sting happened when President Clinton was trying to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The counter-terrorism operation in 1998 and 1999 was run out of the FBI`s Phoenix Office in cooperation with Israeli intelligence and was approved by Attorney General Janet Reno, FBI officials were quoted as saying. Several thousand dollars in US money was sent to suspected terror supporters during the operation as the FBI tried to track the flow of cash through terror organizations, the FBI said in a rare acknowledgment of the sting that never resulted in prosecutions. "This was done in conjunction with permission from the Attorney General for an ongoing operation, and Israeli authorities were aware of it," FBI said.
One of the FBI`s key operatives provided an account of the operation at a friend`s closed immigration court proceeding.
Arizona businessman Harry Ellen testified he permitted the FBI to bug his home, allowed his Muslim foundation`s activities in the Gaza Strip to be monitored by agents, arranged a peace meeting between major Palestinian activists and gained personal access to Yasser Arafat.
Bureau Report