Arab Bank Helped Saudi Charity Pay Bomber Families, Suit Says

A Saudi charity that has collected more than $100 million for Palestinians made payments to the relatives of suicide bombers through Arab Bank Plc, which has a branch on New York’s Madison Avenue, according to a lawsuit.

The Saudi Committee in Support of the Intifada Al-Quds paid $5,316 to relatives of Izz Ad-Din al-Masri, who killed himself and 15 others at a Sbarro Inc. pizzeria in Jerusalem on Aug. 9, 2001, according to the complaint by the families of U.S. citizens slain by Palestinian terrorists. Payments to the families of five other bombers and gunmen are also on the group’s Web site, according to the Jan. 21 filing in federal court in Brooklyn.

Amman, Jordan-based Arab Bank knew the payments were designed to encourage terrorism, according to the civil complaint, which seeks $2 billion. The lawsuit follows a similar action filed in July and contains more details about the payments. The bank called the allegations in the first suit "unfair and untrue."’

Source: [Bloomberg]

I don’t know if these allegations have even a smidgen of truth to them, but regardless, I thought I’d vent a bit about what really annoyed me about Arab Bank during the three years I had an account there. I could not stand their run-down, dirty, smoking-friendly branches! They didn’t appear willing to invest even a little of those big dollars they’ve got in the branches. They didn’t seem to care at all about providing customers with a more comfortable environment. Unlike many banks in Jordan that are constantly refurbishing and improving their offices, Arab Bank branches always seemed to be at a standstill. Grrrrr!