While the Middle East economy is struggling under the weight of a global recession, business is booming for one company.
According to the Daily Mail, The UK law firm, which represents terror suspects arrested across the Middle East, has recorded a near 100% increase in payments in the last 12 months.
Arani & Co represent clients such as the so-called Al-Qaeda ‘bear’ arrested in Morocco and the Egyptian extremist cleric Abu Hamza who called for the destruction of democracy.
Moroccan authorities arrested Abu Zubair al-Haili, the ‘bear’, after evidence mounted that he was plotting terrorist attacks in the country. The Saudi born suspect is so-called because of weighing more that 300 pounds.
Egyptian cleric Abu Hamza faces extradition to the US on terrorist charges but the same law firm has ensured that the order has been prolonged more than 8 years by fighting his case in the European Court of Human Rights.
Arani & Co boast that they have “a wealth of experience in dealing with anti-terrorism cases”, citing many of their clients on their website. These include UK born clients, stopped by Jordanian and Yemeni governments from committing terrorist offences in their countries.
The firm, based in Southhall, West London, received almost $1.5 million last year in legal aid from the UK government who are legally required to pay for cases where the defendant is deemed unable to do so.
According to the Daily Mail, the lawyer who represented Abu Hamza earned nearly $800,000 in fees since 2000 to act on his behalf. In one month alone – January this year – Ms. Arani, owner of the firm, billed almost $560,000.
In contrast, most of the Middle East is struggling with high unemployment figures and construction projects stopped mid-build. This, combined with rising food and commodity prices, has seen mass protests across the region. In countries such as Yemen, nearly half of the population lives below their poverty line.
In this time of economic hardship, both in the Middle East and in the UK a company representing alleged terrorists are apparently the only ones turning a crisis into a profit.
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