Britain�s Prince Charles is facing more questions over his charities after a newspaper reported that one of his funds accepted a 1 million pound ($1.2 million) donation from relatives of Osama bin Laden.
The Sunday Times reported that the Prince of Wales�s Charitable Fund received the money in 2013 from Bakr bin Laden, patriarch of the large and wealthy Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq. Both are half-brothers of the former al-Qaida leader, who was killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in 2011.
The newspaper said advisers had urged the heir to the throne not to take the donation.
Charles� Clarence House office disputed that but confirmed the donation had been made. It said the decision to accept the money was taken by the charity�s trustees, not the prince, and �thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation.�
The fund�s chairman, Ian Cheshire, also said the donation was agreed �wholly� by the five trustees at the time, and �any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate.�
The Prince of Wales�s Charitable Fund was founded in 1979 to �transform lives and build sustainable communities,� and gives grants to a wide variety of projects in Britain and around the world.
Charles, 73, has faced a series of claims about the operation of his charities. Last month the Sunday Times reported he had accepted bags of cash containing $3 million from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar.
London police are currently investigating a separate allegation that people associated with another of the prince�s charities, the Prince�s Foundation, offered to help a Saudi billionaire secure honors and citizenship in return for donations. Clarence House has said Charles had no knowledge of any such offer.
(AP)
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3 Responses
Not exactly �news�!
Royal limeys have been supported by and supporting terrorists long before Israel came about!
The Bin Laden responsible for 9-11 was the “black sheep” (who was hiding in Afghanistan, and then Pakistan) since the Saudi government wanted to execute him for treason.
Why on earth should a charity not accept donations from someone, just because one of their relatives was a terrorist? Would you turn down a donation from Goebels’s brother who saved dozens of Jews, or from a giyores I know whose grandfather was a prominent nazi?! What kind of nonsense is this? The Torah says a person is responsible only for his own crimes, not for anyone else’s.