New York Times: Saudi Arabia vowed new measures against terrorism

The New York Times said yesterday that Saudi officials have promised to take a series of new measures to fight terrorism in a meeting with American officials in August.

The paper said that officials at the UN Security Council and the Federal Investigation Bureau FBI and officials at the US Department Of State and the Treasury met with Saudi officials including Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz in Riyadh in August to discuss terrorism fighting efforts.

According to the paper, the agreement which was concluded by the two sides was considered an indication for extraordinary progress in the tense relations between the USA and Saudi Arabia since the attacks of September 11 against New York and Washington.

Among the measures the Saudis promised to try to take are better control of financial donations, preventing donations in mosques and funds placed in trade centers. The American authorities consider that these donations are used to finance terrorism. The Saudis also agreed that an international group to review the Saudi measures on following up money laundering, but they asked for postponing the revision, according to an American officials.

The Saudis also agreed to deploy a joint American- Saudi team to fight terrorism including 10 members of the FBI and Internal Revenues Services (IRS).

An American diplomat in the Middle East told the paper that the recent explosions in Riyadh "have changed greatly the way the Saudis view terrorism and the threats, and the best way to challenge them." An American official working in the region said that the "Saudis have realized that there are hundreds or possibly thousand of terrorists inside Saudi Arabia."