[4][5] The IIRO is included in a list of some of the UNHCR's major NGO partners and has been involved in many joint programmes with UN Agencies and intergovernmental (such as the World Health Organization[6]) and non-governmental organisations.
IIROSA's seven main programs received: IIRO activities during this period were based in 58 countries, as follows: Middle Eastern and Asian Countries: Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Philippines, China, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.
African Countries: Uganda, Chad, Tanzania, Comoros, South Africa, Lesotho, South Sudan, Mozambique, Niger, Benin, Djibouti, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Cameroon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Togo, Gambia, Ghana Kenya, Mali, Egypt, Mauritania and Nigeria.
[19] According to the Philippines National Security Advisor, Roilo Golez, Khalifa "built up the good will of the community through charity and then turned segments of the population into agents.
"[19] Amongst other organizations, Khalifa established the "International Relations and Information Center", which served as the "primary funding mechanism" for the "Bojinka plan" of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Yousef to assassinate Pope John Paul II and blow up eleven American jetliners (killing some 4000 passengers and bringing air travel to a standstill)[20] in early 1995.
[10] Consequently, in August 2006 the United Nations Security Council listed IIRO's branch offices in Indonesia and the Philippines as belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda[22] – and then after a petition had been made to the UN Ombudsperson, delisted them in 2014.
[24] At the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Steven Emerson, identified IIRO as a major radical Islamic institution, in part, "responsible for fueling Islamic militancy around the world", and, Rohan Gunaratna, Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore, stated, "... Mohammed Jamal Khalifa is the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden.
"[25] As well as being designated by the US Treasury in 2006,[10] the Philippines and Indonesian branches of IIRO were also included in the UN list[22] maintained by United Nations Security Council Committee 1267 – which subsequently delisted them in 2014.
Shawki Salama Attiya, a former instructor in Afghan camps in the 1980s, who specialized in false identity documents came to Albania under the pseudonym of Majed Mustafa, and Ahmed Osman Saleh, who was wanted by the Egyptian authorities on suspicion of involvement in the attempted assassination of Egypt's Prime minister Atef Sidiqi in 1993.
This conspiracy was later exposed during an investigation carried out by the American and Albanian secret services,[27][28] and several Egyptian Islamist accused of terrorist activities were arrested in 1998, particularly after the 1998 United States embassy bombings.
IIRO has always maintained that it has only ever been solely concerned with providing humanitarian aid wherever it is most needed irrespective of ethnic background, nationality, social status or belief.
[33] and the United Kingdom HM Treasury Financial Sanctions Notice (dated January 14, 2014) confirmed the deletion of IIRO Philippines and Indonesia branches from its consolidated list of persons and entities having a connection with Al-Qaida.
Remarking on the occasion Peter Ford, Representative of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, said: "We are very pleased to be renewing and intensifying our cooperation with IIROSA, which has a high reputation for professionalism as well as humanitarian concern.