Money money money....must be funny...
Saudis Defend Effort to Track Terror Funds
Howard Schneider Washington Post Service Friday, October 26, 2001
Illicit Cash Flow Hinders Police, Officials Say
iht.com
RIYADH Countering allegations that they have been slow to crack down on terrorist fund-raising, Saudi monetary and political officials say they have frozen every account they could find on a recent U.S. Treasury Department list of suspected terrorist holdings and have begun policing local charities and financial institutions more aggressively. But they also acknowledge that, with 6 million foreign laborers sending about $15 billion abroad every year, and Saudis holding extensive assets outside the country, ensuring that no money from the kingdom finds its way to Osama bin Laden's Qaida network is impossible.
.
The foreign community in Riyadh includes large numbers of Pakistanis and Afghans, some of whom sympathize with Mr. bin Laden and have strong emotions against the United States as its forces strike Afghanistan.
.
Though most people send money through legal channels to relatives abroad, the system is porous, with illicit currency dealers and a traditional hawala system of cross-border brokers who are difficult to police.
.
"Some of them take their dollars and they transfer them to accounts in Europe and use it for God knows what," said Hamad Sayari, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. But, he said, "we've been acting on this since 1994," when the government stripped Mr. bin Laden of his Saudi citizenship and seized his local assets.
.
The pro-Western Gulf countries have pledged to freeze assets requested by the United States and ensure that organizations through which Muslims carry out their religious duty to give to charity are adequately monitored to prevent money from going to terrorist groups.
.
But details are scarce about the steps they are taking. Officials at the Saudi monetary agency have refused, for example, to release the number of accounts they have frozen in recent days, or the amount of money involved.
.
Of 300 money-laundering and other currency violation cases they have investigated in the last 10 years, officials said, none was linked to suspected terrorist activity. Mr. Sayari's comments underscore the challenges that U.S. and local officials face as they try to understand and undo financial support for militants in a region where raising money for jihad had until a few years ago been in vogue among business and government officials.
.
In the 1980s, with a nod from Washington, the Saudi royal family and local businessmen opened their wallets to fund an Arab force helping to fight the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan - the conflict in which Mr. bin Laden got his first taste of the guerrilla lifestyle. The United States is now trying to ensure those old connections are severed.
.
A Saudi businessman, Wael Hamza Jelaidan, for example, was closely involved with Mr. bin Laden and others in the Afghan resistance during the 1980s, according to Saudi press reports, and has been characterized by the U.S. authorities as a founding member of Qaida. The fact that he is now secretary-general of the Pakistan-based Rabita Trust, a refugee resettlement group that has backing from high levels of the Pakistani government, apparently landed the trust on the Treasury Department list. Local press accounts said that Mr. Jelaidan, based in Jidda, disassociated himself from Mr. bin Laden and Afghanistan in 1992, and released a statement asking "all concerned authorities to check the accounts of the trust thoroughly and find out the truth," a process he said had already commenced in Pakistan.
.
For another Saudi businessman, Yassin Qadi, the crackdown has raised the immediate question of how to buy groceries and pay his staff. Because he was involved in the now-defunct Muwafaq Foundation, a U.S. target, his Riyadh bank accounts were frozen last week. His most immediate appeal, as far as he could determine, was not to the courts or institutions of his own country but to the U.S. Consulate in Jidda. According to Mr. Qadi, Muwafaq built schools and mosques and ran educational programs in Bosnia, Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries during the four years it operated before closing in 1996. The United States has alleged that it was a front for funneling money to Qaida.
.
Referring to the broad approach that the FBI, CIA and other agencies have followed in tracking funds since the attacks on the United States, one U.S. official said the government had erred on the side of alleging as many links as possible, in hopes that a wide net would produce investigative results and possibly forestall another terrorist attack. A U.S. analyst said that recent controls on charitable contributions and intense policing had shut down major sources of money but that some funds still flow.
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RIYADH Countering allegations that they have been slow to crack down on terrorist fund-raising, Saudi monetary and political officials say they have frozen every account they could find on a recent U.S. Treasury Department list of suspected terrorist holdings and have begun policing local charities and financial institutions more aggressively. But they also acknowledge that, with 6 million foreign laborers sending about $15 billion abroad every year, and Saudis holding extensive assets outside the country, ensuring that no money from the kingdom finds its way to Osama bin Laden's Qaida network is impossible.
.
The foreign community in Riyadh includes large numbers of Pakistanis and Afghans, some of whom sympathize with Mr. bin Laden and have strong emotions against the United States as its forces strike Afghanistan.
.
Though most people send money through legal channels to relatives abroad, the system is porous, with illicit currency dealers and a traditional hawala system of cross-border brokers who are difficult to police.
.
"Some of them take their dollars and they transfer them to accounts in Europe and use it for God knows what," said Hamad Sayari, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. But, he said, "we've been acting on this since 1994," when the government stripped Mr. bin Laden of his Saudi citizenship and seized his local assets.
.
The pro-Western Gulf countries have pledged to freeze assets requested by the United States and ensure that organizations through which Muslims carry out their religious duty to give to charity are adequately monitored to prevent money from going to terrorist groups.
.
But details are scarce about the steps they are taking. Officials at the Saudi monetary agency have refused, for example, to release the number of accounts they have frozen in recent days, or the amount of money involved.
.
Of 300 money-laundering and other currency violation cases they have investigated in the last 10 years, officials said, none was linked to suspected terrorist activity. Mr. Sayari's comments underscore the challenges that U.S. and local officials face as they try to understand and undo financial support for militants in a region where raising money for jihad had until a few years ago been in vogue among business and government officials.
.
In the 1980s, with a nod from Washington, the Saudi royal family and local businessmen opened their wallets to fund an Arab force helping to fight the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan - the conflict in which Mr. bin Laden got his first taste of the guerrilla lifestyle. The United States is now trying to ensure those old connections are severed.
.
A Saudi businessman, Wael Hamza Jelaidan, for example, was closely involved with Mr. bin Laden and others in the Afghan resistance during the 1980s, according to Saudi press reports, and has been characterized by the U.S. authorities as a founding member of Qaida. The fact that he is now secretary-general of the Pakistan-based Rabita Trust, a refugee resettlement group that has backing from high levels of the Pakistani government, apparently landed the trust on the Treasury Department list. Local press accounts said that Mr. Jelaidan, based in Jidda, disassociated himself from Mr. bin Laden and Afghanistan in 1992, and released a statement asking "all concerned authorities to check the accounts of the trust thoroughly and find out the truth," a process he said had already commenced in Pakistan.
.
For another Saudi businessman, Yassin Qadi, the crackdown has raised the immediate question of how to buy groceries and pay his staff. Because he was involved in the now-defunct Muwafaq Foundation, a U.S. target, his Riyadh bank accounts were frozen last week. His most immediate appeal, as far as he could determine, was not to the courts or institutions of his own country but to the U.S. Consulate in Jidda. According to Mr. Qadi, Muwafaq built schools and mosques and ran educational programs in Bosnia, Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries during the four years it operated before closing in 1996. The United States has alleged that it was a front for funneling money to Qaida.
.
Referring to the broad approach that the FBI, CIA and other agencies have followed in tracking funds since the attacks on the United States, one U.S. official said the government had erred on the side of alleging as many links as possible, in hopes that a wide net would produce investigative results and possibly forestall another terrorist attack. A U.S. analyst said that recent controls on charitable contributions and intense policing had shut down major sources of money but that some funds still flow. Illicit Cash Flow Hinders Police, Officials Say
RIYADH Countering allegations that they have been slow to crack down on terrorist fund-raising, Saudi monetary and political officials say they have frozen every account they could find on a recent U.S. Treasury Department list of suspected terrorist holdings and have begun policing local charities and financial institutions more aggressively. But they also acknowledge that, with 6 million foreign laborers sending about $15 billion abroad every year, and Saudis holding extensive assets outside the country, ensuring that no money from the kingdom finds its way to Osama bin Laden's Qaida network is impossible.
.
The foreign community in Riyadh includes large numbers of Pakistanis and Afghans, some of whom sympathize with Mr. bin Laden and have strong emotions against the United States as its forces strike Afghanistan.
.
Though most people send money through legal channels to relatives abroad, the system is porous, with illicit currency dealers and a traditional hawala system of cross-border brokers who are difficult to police.
.
"Some of them take their dollars and they transfer them to accounts in Europe and use it for God knows what," said Hamad Sayari, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. But, he said, "we've been acting on this since 1994," when the government stripped Mr. bin Laden of his Saudi citizenship and seized his local assets.
.
The pro-Western Gulf countries have pledged to freeze assets requested by the United States and ensure that organizations through which Muslims carry out their religious duty to give to charity are adequately monitored to prevent money from going to terrorist groups.
.
But details are scarce about the steps they are taking. Officials at the Saudi monetary agency have refused, for example, to release the number of accounts they have frozen in recent days, or the amount of money involved.
.
Of 300 money-laundering and other currency violation cases they have investigated in the last 10 years, officials said, none was linked to suspected terrorist activity. Mr. Sayari's comments underscore the challenges that U.S. and local officials face as they try to understand and undo financial support for militants in a region where raising money for jihad had until a few years ago been in vogue among business and government officials.
.
In the 1980s, with a nod from Washington, the Saudi royal family and local businessmen opened their wallets to fund an Arab force helping to fight the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan - the conflict in which Mr. bin Laden got his first taste of the guerrilla lifestyle. The United States is now trying to ensure those old connections are severed.
.
A Saudi businessman, Wael Hamza Jelaidan, for example, was closely involved with Mr. bin Laden and others in the Afghan resistance during the 1980s, according to Saudi press reports, and has been characterized by the U.S. authorities as a founding member of Qaida. The fact that he is now secretary-general of the Pakistan-based Rabita Trust, a refugee resettlement group that has backing from high levels of the Pakistani government, apparently landed the trust on the Treasury Department list. Local press accounts said that Mr. Jelaidan, based in Jidda, disassociated himself from Mr. bin Laden and Afghanistan in 1992, and released a statement asking "all concerned authorities to check the accounts of the trust thoroughly and find out the truth," a process he said had already commenced in Pakistan.
.
For another Saudi businessman, Yassin Qadi, the crackdown has raised the immediate question of how to buy groceries and pay his staff. Because he was involved in the now-defunct Muwafaq Foundation, a U.S. target, his Riyadh bank accounts were frozen last week. His most immediate appeal, as far as he could determine, was not to the courts or institutions of his own country but to the U.S. Consulate in Jidda. According to Mr. Qadi, Muwafaq built schools and mosques and ran educational programs in Bosnia, Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries during the four years it operated before closing in 1996. The United States has alleged that it was a front for funneling money to Qaida.
.
Referring to the broad approach that the FBI, CIA and other agencies have followed in tracking funds since the attacks on the United States, one U.S. official said the government had erred on the side of alleging as many links as possible, in hopes that a wide net would produce investigative results and possibly forestall another terrorist attack. A U.S. analyst said that recent controls on charitable contributions and intense policing had shut down major sources of money but that some funds still flow. Illicit Cash Flow Hinders Police, Officials Say
RIYADH Countering allegations that they have been slow to crack down on terrorist fund-raising, Saudi monetary and political officials say they have frozen every account they could find on a recent U.S. Treasury Department list of suspected terrorist holdings and have begun policing local charities and financial institutions more aggressively. But they also acknowledge that, with 6 million foreign laborers sending about $15 billion abroad every year, and Saudis holding extensive assets outside the country, ensuring that no money from the kingdom finds its way to Osama bin Laden's Qaida network is impossible.
.
The foreign community in Riyadh includes large numbers of Pakistanis and Afghans, some of whom sympathize with Mr. bin Laden and have strong emotions against the United States as its forces strike Afghanistan.
.
Though most people send money through legal channels to relatives abroad, the system is porous, with illicit currency dealers and a traditional hawala system of cross-border brokers who are difficult to police.
.
"Some of them take their dollars and they transfer them to accounts in Europe and use it for God knows what," said Hamad Sayari, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. But, he said, "we've been acting on this since 1994," when the government stripped Mr. bin Laden of his Saudi citizenship and seized his local assets.
.
The pro-Western Gulf countries have pledged to freeze assets requested by the United States and ensure that organizations through which Muslims carry out their religious duty to give to charity are adequately monitored to prevent money from going to terrorist |
