The founding member of the International Islamic Relief Organisation. Prof Qureishi was a former director general and a founding member of the International Islamic Relief Organisation (IIRO), based in Makkah. He was also a full time member of the department of economics at King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah. The IIRO had started as a department in Muslim World League (MWL) but Dr Qureishi had developed it into an international Islamic relief body working in 120 countries. He headed the organisation for some 13 years until the early 1990s when the Americans started to accuse the IIRO of supporting 'terrorist' mujahideen in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The authorities, instead of standing up to the accusers, quietly relieved Dr Qureishi from its directorship. Dr Qureishi who was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver died of failed liver transplant in Beijing, China.