Saudi Arabia has failed to enforce sanctions against nationals and organizations that finance Al Qaida. Saudi and U.S. officials acknowledged that a ban announced by the kingdom in 2003 on the transfer of charity funds abroad has been ignored. They said a prominent Saudi fired from a leading charity has continued to relay funds to Al Qaida and related groups outside the kingdom. It was the first time that Riyad and Washington admitted the failure of Saudi enforcement of anti-Al Qaida measures. Over the last two years, the Bush administration has repeatedly praised Saudi decisions to block financing to Al Qaida and related groups. But statements by U.S. and Saudi officials as well as a U.S. Treasury Department communique portrayed a Saudi government unable or unwilling to implement its ban on financiers of Al Qaida. They described a Saudi government-sponsored and -administered charity that ordered its employees to flout the kingdom's decision to halt activities abroad and conceal financing of Al Qaida and related groups under a different guise.