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| Gulf states still the key to terrorist financing |
| 2004-01-19 |
| A senior U.S. Treasury official said on Sunday oil-rich Gulf Arab states should keep a close eye on charitable bodies and shut down suspect ones as a way to help fight the financing of terror activities. U.S. Treasury Department official Richard Newcomb, attending a conference on combating money laundering and the financing of terror, said countries in the region should take steps to ensure charities could not be used by militant groups as information indicated some had been exploited by groups linked to al Qaeda. "It’s clear that cooperation by foreign governments, including many GCC countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and others would be critical in impeding the flow of funds to terrorists," Newcomb said. Gulf states say they are cooperating and most now regulate Islamic charities, some of which were criticised in the United States for alleged terror links. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States blamed on al Qaeda, Kuwait issued a decree banning the opening of accounts for charities at financial institutions and outlawing the transfer of funds abroad by charities without government approval. But U.S. official sources said more could be done by the Gulf Arab governments. "Shutting down and reconfiguring and then regulating the corrupted charities as well as the entire fund-raising and financial structure is a critical component of the financial war against the terrorist financial empire," Newcomb said. Kuwait’s main Islamic groups, which run several charities, have denied involvement in terror funding. Kuwaiti central bank governor Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah said there were none of the suspect charitable organisations Newcomb referred to in Kuwait. Newcomb said 40 countries committed in 2002 at the first international conference on "hawala" in the United Arab Emirates, to regulate the informal money-transfer system feared to be a conduit sometimes for terror funds. But he argued all countries should regulate the hawala system. Informal hawala brokers move billions of dollars across the world, mostly legitimate remittances from expatriates in the Gulf and South Asia. But because the system generates little paper trail, U.S. officials fear it can be abused. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 I still can't see a conection to terrorism. Where are the WMD. Charities are for love, peace and the islamic way. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-1-19 12:56:35 AM |