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About half of Hamas funds come from GCC
The United States has assessed that about half of the estimated $50 million budget for Hamas comes from Gulf Cooperation Council states. U.S. officials said most of Hamas' foreign sources of funding stem from Saudi Arabia. They said Hamas has raised more than $50 million a year, including funds obtained from criminal activities in the United States. "Some sources estimate that as much as half of Hamas' income is derived from money raised in the Persian Gulf, including the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Treasury Department general counsel David Aufhauser said, "notwithstanding a May 2002 decree by Crown Prince Abdullah that ceased official Saudi support for the group."
"We gotta clean up here, but you guys go right ahead kicking in..."
Aufhauser, who heads the U.S. effort to end financing to Islamic insurgency groups, testified on Wednesday to the House Financial Services subcommittee. The focus of the hearing was the campaign by Washington to end funding to Hamas.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-09-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=19096