WikiLeaks: Saudis Largest Source of Terror Funds

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged U.S. diplomats to do more to stop the flow of money to Islamist militant groups from donors in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government, Clinton wrote, was reluctant to cut off money being sent to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan.

"While the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) takes seriously the threat of terrorism within Saudi Arabia, it has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority," the memo states.

Progress was cited by the Saudi government (due in part to "intense focus" by the United States) to proactively investigate and detain financiers of concern. "Still, donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide."

"In contrast to its increasingly aggressive efforts to disrupt al Qaeda's access to funding from Saudi sources, Riyadh has taken only limited action to disrupt fundraising for the UN 1267-listed Taliban and LeT-groups that are also aligned with al Qaeda and focused on undermining stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

"More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al Qaeda, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups," according to the memo signed by Clinton.

Other Arab countries cited as being sources of money for terrorists were Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

CBSNews.com Special Report: WikiLeaks

The memo states al Qaeda and other militants groups "continue to exploit Kuwait both as a source of funds and as a key transit point."

The UAE's growing global financial power, coupled with weak regulatory oversight, "makes it vulnerable to abuse by terrorist financiers and facilitation networks."

The memo was among those leaked by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, and appeared today in the British newspaper, The Guardian.

The memo recommends a strategic approach to achieve long-term success in combating terror financing, including:

"Aggressive action" to identify, disrupt and deter" those who raise or facilitate funds for terrorists;

"Appropriate legal measures, including effective prosecution" to hold terrorist financiers publicly accountable, and sending a strong message of deterrence to others.

"Strong oversight of charities" to ensure such organizations do not contribute to terrorist and extremist elements;

Strict enforcement of UN 1267 sanctions; and

Full compliance with international standards to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Another memo published by the Guardian indicates that a front company for the LeT, Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JUD), was openly raising funds in Saudi Arabia.

Prior to the Mumbai, India terror attacks in November 2008, the memo says, an American effort to have JUD listed by the United Nations alongside other terror-allied organizations was placed on hold by China at the behest of Pakistan. Pakistan acquiesced the month following the Mumbai attacks, but JUD appears to still be operating in multiple locations in Pakistan.

WikiLeaks: Saudis Largest Source of Terror Funds - CBS News

 

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Wikileaks: Saudis 'chief funders of al-Qaeda'
Private individuals in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states friendly to the United States are the chief source of funding for al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other terrorist groups, according to leaked US diplomatic cables.
The Saudis recognize that they have trouble policing the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, when it is estimated that millions of dollars are raised by agents under the cover of Muslim pilgrims Photo: REUTERS


Despite extensive efforts to limit the distribution of funds to extremists from the Middle East, the documents show deep frustration in Washington with the level of co-operation from governments in the region.

"It has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority," read a cable from Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, dated Dec 30, 2009.

"Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide," added the document.

The Saudis have recognised that they have trouble policing the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, when it is estimated that millions of dollars are raised for militants who send agents into the oil-rich kingdom under the cover of Muslim pilgrims.

The Saudi interior ministry co-operated when terrorist funding was brought to its attention, but remained "almost completely dependent on the CIA to provide analytic support and direction for its counterterrorism operations", said a cable from the US embassy in Riyadh. "As such, our success against terrorist financing in the kingdom remains directly tied to our ability to provide actionable intelligence to our Saudi counterparts."


There was no accusation of official Saudi government support of militants. The Clinton memo credited the Saudis with "significant progress" under US pressure to deal with the issue, especially disrupting al-Qaeda's finance channels.

However, it claimed that "Riyadh has taken only limited action" to interrupt the flow of money to Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and associated groups which have launched attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It believed that private funds from Arab states were the Taliban's greatest source of income, above revenues from the opium-poppy trade.

The tiny kingdom of Qatar, which was last week granted the right to stage the 2022 World Cup, was singled out as the "worst in the region" in terms of its co-operation with the US. Qatar's approach on militant financing is "largely passive," and its security services "have been hesitant to act against known terrorists" because they fear being seen too close to the United States, the memo said.

Kuwait, which was saved from Saddam Hussein's invasion by US-led forces in 1991, was a "key transit point" for funds that were threatening stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan and targeting coalition soldiers. It dismissed US requests for help in limiting the activities of a charity as "draconian" and based on weak evidence.

Mrs Clinton said the key challenge for US diplomacy was to create the "political will" in the Gulf to clamp down on terrorist financing.

Unlike George W Bush, President Barack Obama has rarely made public comments about the issue, preferring to work through diplomatic channels.



Wikileaks: Saudis 'chief funders of al-Qaeda' - Telegraph