Switzerland and US sign anti-terror accord
Switzerland and the United States have signed a pact in Washington aimed at increasing cooperation to fight terrorism in the wake of September 11.
The Swiss federal prosecutor, Valentin Roschacher, and his American counterpart, John Ashcroft, agreed to “enhance cooperation between the countries’ police and penal authorities”.
The brainchild of Roschacher, the “Operative Working Arrangement” also foresees a more open exchange of information between the two states.
Bern and Washington said the aim was to improve technical and organisational collaboration between their investigations into the September 11 attacks on the United States.
But criminal law expert Mark Pieth told swissinfo Bern was probably hoping to prevent US investigations into money laundering in Switzerland.
“I believe Switzerland is afraid of the US taking action in Switzerland without official notice,” Pieth said.
“It would be highly embarrassing for Switzerland if American secret service agents… would be caught in trying to obtain evidence from banks without using the official channels.”
The deal is set to stay in place as long as a Swiss probe into last year’s attacks on Washington and New York continues, the Swiss federal prosecutor’s office said.
“They [al-Qaeda] are still operating and we think that they have enough money to possibly strike again,” said Roschacher.
One year of research
On September 15, the Swiss government established “Task Force Terror USA” to probe possible ties that could have existed between Switzerland and the September 11 attacks.
Washington has set up its own “task force”.It has also issued lists of international organisations and people suspected of terrorist links.
On Thursday it named a Swiss company – the Miga-Malaysian Swiss, Gulf and African Chamber in Lugano – as having possible terrorist connections.
The Swiss task force is sifting through more than 900 leads as part of their investigation into the complex money trail left in the wake of the attacks.
Switzerland has been keen to show the US it is serious about cracking down on international terrorism and funds suspected of financing terrorism, blocking numerous accounts worth SFr24 million.
However, no direct Swiss link to the September 11 attacks have been uncovered during Switzerland’s investigations, Roschacher said.
“To our knowledge today Switzerland did not play a crucial role or a main-player role,” he said, adding that it was too early to establish whether the country’s banks were used by al Qaeda for some transactions.
Well funded
The Swiss federal prosecutor said that most of al Qaeda’s wealth has been converted into diamonds and gold and is now beyond the reach of banks.
European prosecutors believe that Osama bin Laden’s group had transferred most of its assets from cash to other valuables before September 11, Roschacher added.
He said that his “colleagues in Europe” share his opinion that al Qaeda’s assets are still largely intact.
“If you compare the number of millions blocked all over the world and the estimate of bin Laden’s worth and that of his group, you come to the conclusion there is a lot of money not yet found,” Roschacher said.
Money laundering cases jump
Earlier this year, the Swiss Money Laundering Reporting Office said that the September 11 attacks were responsible for a more than 30 per cent rise in the number of reports received in 2001 of suspicious accounts.
“Ninety-five per cent of the reports of suspected money laundering were connected with the attacks,” it said in a statement.
Of the 417 reports it received, the reporting office forwarded 380 of them to the competant law enforcement authorities.
The federal prosecutor’s office is responsible for dealing with reports related to September 11.
swissinfo with agencies
September 11 2001 : Hijackers crash four planes in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.
September 15 2001: Switzerland sets up a task force to probe any Swiss ties to the attacks.
September 4 2002: Bern and Washington announce joint initiative to fight terrorism.
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