Red Terror 'Hard To Forgive'

U.S. Terror Fears Ensnare Ottawa Man

Western Union holds $116 after Somali native tries to send money to friend in Netherlands

Ken Gray

Ottawa, September 17, 2003 (The Ottawa Citizen) – A Britannia man's attempt to wire $116 to a friend in the Netherlands has been caught in a U.S. net designed to intercept money to terrorists.

Said Ali, who came to Canada from Somalia in 1991, now has his money frozen by the U.S. firm Western Union because the recipient's name is Mohammed Ali -- a Dutch citizen who is also originally from Somalia.

The name "Mohammed Ali" appears on a list of names linked to terrorism produced by the U.S. Treasury Department.

According to Danielle Jimenez, a spokeswoman for Western Union, if either the sender's or recipient's name appears on that restricted list, the money is frozen until the person with the name appearing on that list can prove his identity.

Mohammed Ali refused to surrender a copy of his passport to Western Union because he "did not want to give his passport number to the United States for fear of what they would do with that number and for his dignity," Said Ali wrote in a letter to Bay Councillor Alex Cullen, to whom he was appealing for help.

"We are talking about a Canadian citizen sending $116 to another country and those funds are being impounded by a foreign country," an angry Mr. Cullen said yesterday. "I'm offended by a company holding the funds illegally."

He said it is ridiculous to freeze money because it's being sent to someone with a name as common as "Mohammed Ali."

"That's as common as 'John Smith' in the Islamic world," Mr. Cullen said.

"He's a citizen of Canada and he's not a terrorist and he wants his money back. It's mind-boggling. It's an affront to Canadian sovereignty," Mr. Cullen said. "This is Said Ali, a Canadian citizen who lives and works in Canada and wants his money back. That's appalling his money is being withheld."

Said Ali, 37, said he has known Mohammed Ali for 20 years and that his friend is employed by a shipping company. He is no terrorist, Said Ali said yesterday.

"That's discrimination," he said of the situation surrounding his money.

He also said he knows of three other people in the Somali community in Canada who have had similar problems.

Said Ali said he wired the money on March 7.

"I had sent money on previous occasions through another bank and had no problem," Said Ali wrote in the letter. "This was the first time I dealt with Western Union. The reason I chose this bank is that they could send the money quickly. The bank said there would be no problem in sending the money."

When the difficulty arose in the Netherlands, Said Ali asked for his money back.

"They refused to return the funds," he wrote. "The staff at the bank said she agreed that this was not fair, however she could not return the funds."

Mr. Said contacted the RCMP, but the police force was unable to help.

An RCMP official said he could not reveal details of the case because of its personal nature.

Said Ali also contacted the Foreign Affairs department, but was told it could not help.

Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs, said he believed the transaction was a private money transfer and "a personal matter."

"It is at an impasse or dead end for now," Mr. Doiron said yesterday.

The Canadian government has protested vigorously against the extra-territorial application of U.S. law, but more research is needed to discover if this is the situation in this case, Mr. Doiron said.

On the other hand, Mr. Doiron said the Canadian government wants to co-operate in the global war against terrorism.

"It's a very peculiar time," he said. He encouraged Said Ali to contact his department again.
Said Ali, meanwhile, is waiting for a reply to a letter he wrote to Western Union asking for his money be returned.

Ms. Jimenez said Western Union is required to freeze the funds under U.S. law by the Office of Foreign Assets Control -- part of the Treasury Department. The restricted names are provided by U.S. and international authorities.

"We need to comply with government regulations," Ms. Jimenez said.

In March, the U.S. Treasury Department forced First Data Corp. to agree to pay a $3-million fine and review its Western Union money-transfer operations.

That action followed an $8-million fine that First Data agreed to pay in a separate action in December. New York regulators accused Western Union of widespread violations of U.S. laws designed to cut the flow of terrorist money.

The Treasury Department found problems with the methods used by Western Union to handle suspicious transactions.

In another example early this year, Muhammad Ali, a New York-born Muslim, went to a Western Union in Brooklyn to send $80 for schoolbooks to a Connecticut friend. Shortly after, he was told that his transaction had been blocked because his name had appeared on a U.S. government list of known terrorists.

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