Islamic financing differs from conventional financing in its adherence to Shariah, or Islamic law, which among other things bans the charging of interest.

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One reason for New York's low interest level: European and Asian governments have been eager to change regulations to adapt to and attract Islamic finance--for example, Britain struck down a law that double-taxed homebuyers who used a murabaha, a two-part Islamic financing structure, rather than a mortgage.

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El Obeidi also said that extremist militia in Libya were financing militant groups in Mali and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb as well as providing them with logistical support.

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