2005-07-14 US: Saudis significant source of terror funds
US government suggests wealthy Saudi financiers, charities still funding Islamic terrorists around world. By Maxim Kniazkov - WASHINGTON The US government has suggested wealthy Saudi individuals remain "a significant source" of funds for Islamic terrorists around the world, despite widely-publicized efforts by the desert kingdom to shut down these channels. The statement by Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey before the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, contrasted with earlier upbeat assessments by US officials that Saudi Arabia was making good progress in stemming the flow of private money to terrorist groups. Levey said challenges posed by terrorist financing from within Saudi Arabia were "among the most daunting" his agency had to face as it tries to persuade Islamic nations to strengthen controls over their banks and charitable organizations. "Wealthy Saudi financiers and charities have funded terrorist organizations and causes that support terrorism and the ideology that fuels the terrorists' agenda", Levey told lawmakers Wednesday. "Even today, we believe that Saudi donors may still be a significant source of terrorist financing, including for the insurgency in Iraq," he added. US officials expressed particular concern about three Saudi-run charities that operate around the world: the International Islamic Relief Organization, the World Association of Muslim Youth and the Muslim World League. The Saudi government has moved to establish an oversight commission for its charitable sector and ordered an end to uncontrolled collection of charitable donations at mosques and retail shops. But US officials argued they wanted to see convincing proof that these proclaimed initiatives have become reality. Assistant Secretary of State Anthony Wayne told senators American diplomats continue to stress in their discussions with the Saudis "the need for full implementation, including a fully functioning charities commission." Republican Senator Richard Shelby, who chairs the committee, cited the case of the New York branch of Arab Bank, which is under investigation by the Justice Department on suspicion it had been used to channel funds to the radical Palestinian group Hamas and Al-Qaeda. "At the core of the Arab Bank case sits the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Al Quds Intifada, a known conduit for money destined for terrorist organizations in the West Bank and Gaza," Shelby fumed. Administration officials also voiced alarm that Saudi supporters of Al-Qaeda and anti-American insurgents in Iraq were increasingly turning to individual couriers rather than financial institutions to move cash across the border. "It is critical that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries lower reporting thresholds for cross-border transfers of cash and enforce these provisions aggressively," Levey said. So far, Saudi officials have not publicly responded to the new criticism. But Adel Al-Jubeir, a foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, said Wednesday his government had punished institutions and individuals suspected of providing financial support to terrorists. "With regard to combating terror financing, Saudi Arabia has put in place one of the strictest financial controls in the world to ensure that no funds reach evil-doers intentionally or unintentionally," he said in an online discussion with readers of The Washington Post. The kingdom has been stepping up its counterterrorism campaign since May 12, 2003, when triple car bombings at a housing compound in the Saudi capital of Riyadh killed 34 people, including eight Americans. Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
