Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it would create a body that will exclusively run charity work abroad, after some Saudi Islamic charities faced Western charges of funding terror. A decree by King Fahd approved "the establishment of a charitable body called 'Saudi Civil Council for Relief and Charity Work Overseas' which would be set up and run by a group of citizens involved in charity work and renowned for their experience, integrity and good reputation," said a royal court statement.
| Does that mean they get their heads cut off when they're caught funding exploding airliners? |
The council would "exclusively run all charity and welfare activities overseas," said the statement carried by the official SPA news agency. This would enable the Saudi people to "continue assisting their Muslim brethren everywhere" in keeping with Islamic teachings while shielding Saudi welfare work abroad from any harmful activities which might undermine it or tarnish its reputation, the statement said. The decision to establish the body was taken after the Saudi government decided to lay down "clear rules to regulate Saudi welfare work outside the kingdom," it added. The new body would announce its statutes and modus operandi as soon as the procedures of its establishment are completed "within the next few weeks," the statement said. A number of Saudi charities were accused by the United States of financing terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington in which 15 of the 19 suspected suicide hijackers were Saudis. The head of one of these charities, Al-Haramain, was dismissed last month by the Saudi minister of Islamic affairs. |