[JURIST] The Swiss Justice Ministry [official website] has decided to grant US investigators access to information about bank accounts of terrorism suspects, a justice ministry spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] requested the information in a four-year old investigation into money laundering to support terrorist activities. The US prosecutors suspect more than 100 charitable organizations have provided aid to terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, Hamas and the Palestinian jihad, through "complex financial transactions."

US prosecutors allege that more than $26 million was transferred through UK Isle of Man "entities" with bank accounts in Switzerland, and was then transferred to the charitable organizations. AP has more.