HAMAS OPENS AN OFFICE IN ALGERIA

Hamas, which, as most compliance officers know, is designated a global terrorist organization by many Western countries, including the United States and Canada, has announced, on Algerian television that it has opened a representative office in Algeria. This action is a direct challenge to the existing Palestinian "embassy" currently operated there by the Palestinian Authority.

Please note that Hamas reportedly receives monetary support from the local Muslim Brotherhood affiliate in Algeria, the Movement of Society for Peace, or MSP, and the Algerian Muslim Scholars. Whether this new office in Algeria will be conducting terrorist operations in Europe, or the Middle East, such as those funded and directed by the Hamas office in Turkey, is a distinct possibility. There is one other Hamas office in existence, in Qatar, where a number of senior Hamas officials live a lavish lifestyle, but which has not yet been identified with specific terrorist actions; terrorist financing and finding activities are said to be the primary mission of the Qatar office.

For compliance purposes, the risk that dual-purpose goods might be imported into Algeria, by a Hamas front, and then transshipped into Gaza, through circuitous means, should be increased, for Country Risk assessment. Hamas leader Mohammed Othman has been named, in Middle Eastern media, as the initial supervisor of the Algerian office.