Pakistani Charity Under Scrutiny in Plot

The Pakistani charity organization Jamaat ud Dawa won praise for its action in helping victims of the October 2005 earthquake in Kashmir, which killed more than 70,000. But the group also has a militant branch that fights the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and was labeled a terrorist group by the US in May. Investigators now question whether a group of Britons plotting to blow up commercial planes traveling from the UK to the US, received help from the charity. Jamaat ud Dawa collected money in British mosques for the earthquake victims, and investigators are checking whether donations were re-directed for plane tickets for the plot. British citizens of Pakistani heritage, including some of the suspects, traveled to the quake site to volunteer, and that may be how suspects came into contact with the charity. Western corporations donated millions after the Kashmir earthquake. Any confirmation that donations funded terrorist endeavors will surely paralyze giving for future crises. – YaleGlobal