Liberia denied that the bin Laden organization was involved with the illegal diamond trade in Sierra Leone. The UN accusations (also directed at the RUF rebels) recognize the fact that many Arabs (largely refugees from the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war) have settled in West Africa and now dominate much of the retail and wholesale trade in the region. Bin Laden's organization has depended on Arab speaking banking and trading organizations around the world to provide banking and other services. Some of the local Arabs know they are dealing with terrorists, some don't. Business is business, especially if the customer speaks Arabic.