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Riyadh tightens grip on charities
The Saudi government has banned fund-raising in schools and through the media in fresh moves to regulate the work of charities, which have faced Western accusations of funding terrorism. The Education Ministry has ordered an end to the collection of donations for charities in all government schools. This follows a government ban on fund-raising in markets and shopping malls as part of a series of measures aimed at "monitoring the flow of money and preventing funds from reaching activities described as terrorist," it said. The Ministry of Islamic affairs and religious endowments had banned Islamic preaching (daawa) bodies from running advertisements in the media to solicit donations. "The decision is part of a plan designed to limit the violations that occur during fund-raising for welfare projects," a ministry source told the paper. Saudi Arabia boasts more than 230 non-profit societies which raise about one billion riyals ($267 million) annually. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-10-23 |
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