Al-Qaeda still has access to millions of dollars in funding despite US-led efforts to cut them off, according to a draft UN report seen by the Washington Post.
"Al-Qaeda is by all accounts 'fit and well' and poised to strike again at its leisure . . . the prime targets of the organisation are likely to be persons and property of the United States of America and its allies in the fight against al-Qaeda, as well as Israel," the report concludes.
The network continues to draw money from the inheritance of its leader, Osama bin Laden, as well as from investments and money diverted from charitable organisations, said the report which is expected to be released next week.
The report said identifying the funds is proving "exceedingly difficult" and that efforts by the United States and the United Nations to freeze and seize all known al-Qaeda sources of funding have stalled.
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More than $112 million in suspected al-Qaeda assets were frozen in the first four months after the September 11th attacks, but only a further $10 million have been blocked since then, the report said.
It listed al-Qaeda's financial backers in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, who manage, according to estimates, between $30 million and $300 million in investment for the network.
The group is also suspected of having bank accounts under the name of intermediaries in Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Malaysia and Vienna.
The report also says private donations to al-Qaeda, estimated at $16 million a year, are believed to "continue, largely unabated".
AFP