O'Neill cites U.S.-Saudi action against terror
The United States and Saudi Arabia are joining forces in the fight against terrorist financing, acting jointly to block the assets of the Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina branches of a Saudi-based charitable foundation.
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told reporters March 11 that the U.S.-Saudi action against the branch offices of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation is a sign of growing international cooperation in the campaign to cut off terrorists' money supply.
"We take a new step in the war on terrorist financing, making our first joint designation of a financial supporter of terrorism," O'Neill said. "This joint designation marks a new level of coordination in the international cooperation that has characterized the fight against international terrorism to date."
O'Neill said the U.S. government has evidence that money from Al-Haramain's offices in Bosnia and Somalia had been diverted to support terrorist activities and terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida, AIAI (al-Itihaad al-Islamiya) and other groups.
He said the action targets only the foundation's branches in those two countries, and noted in a statement that the Saudi headquarters of Al-Haramain "is dedicated to promoting Islamic teachings."
The blocking action came six months after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and follows O'Neill's recent tour of several countries in the Middle East.
"Throughout the region I encountered a great recognition that the September attacks weren't only an attack on the United States, but were an attack on the civilized world," O'Neill said.
U.S. allies in the Middle East "are eager to cut off terrorists' access to funds, wherever we may find them," and "agree that we have a responsibility to safeguard charities, so that we can assure people giving to charities that their donations will be used only for their intended good purposes," he said.
Since September 11, the United States has blocked more than $34 million in terrorist assets, and other nations around the world have blocked more than $70 million, O'Neill said. "More important than the dollars found in the accounts is the shutting down of these pipelines for much larger amounts of money," he added.