Last week, while the attention of the easily distracted Washington media establishment was focused on Treasury Department resignations and Sen. John Kerry’s presidential aspirations, the Saudi Embassy announced that the government has enacted substantial legal and regulatory changes in how conducts its war against terror.
These steps, implemented last May, will control charitable funds, prevent money laundering and improve multilateral cooperation.
“In cooperation with the United States and other countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been on the forefront of the war on terrorism,” says Adel Al Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, adding that the announcement is part of an effort to correct misperceptions about the Kingdom’s stance on counterterrorism.
“For too long, Saudi Arabia has been wrongly accused of being uncooperative or ineffective in combating terrorism,” says Al-Jubeir. “The unfounded charges against Saudi Arabia have gotten out of control. We recognize that it is now incumbent on us to more openly articulate our anti-terrorism policies and actions.” According to Al-Jubair, one of the most noteworthy developments is in the area of charitable organizations.
Charitable giving is an important part of Islam and there are hundreds of legitimate charities throughout the Kingdom. However, Saudi Arabia recently completed a thorough review of its charitable organizations, and – based on this analysis — made a number of changes.
For example, all charities are now subject to extensive audits to ensure that the funds provided by donors are used for their intended purposes. In addition, charities whose activities extend beyond Saudi Arabia’s borders must now report and coordinate their activities with the Foreign Ministry.
Saudi Arabia has also established a high commission for oversight of all charities, and is in the final stage of setting up detailed operational procedures to track all donations to and from the charities. The government of Saudi Arabia believes these combined changes will substantially decrease its charitable sector’s vulnerability to abuse by evildoers.
“Probably the most significant new action we have taken has been in the area of charitable giving,” says Al-Jubair. “In the past, we may have been naïve in our giving and did not have adequate controls over all of our donations. As a consequence, some may have taken advantage of our charity and generosity. With the new steps we are taking, this is now changing.”
Saudi Arabia also announced plans last week to reinvigorate the joint US-Saudi Counter-Terrorism Committee by hiring additional staff with expertise in law enforcement, intelligence and international finance.
Saudi Arabia has also toughened its laws and regulations regarding money laundering. “I would like to say that all of our efforts are new, but the fact is that we have had a very advanced legal and regulatory framework for our banks and financial institutions for many years,” says Al-Jubair. “Still, one can always do more. In recent months we have augmented anti-money laundering units in every Saudi bank. We are increasing the resources and training for these units.”
Saudi Arabia recently established a permanent committee of representatives of various government agencies to manage all legal and other issues related to money laundering. As part of this oversight, the Kingdom has issued new regulations to prevent money laundering. For example, Saudi banks are no longer permitted to open bank accounts for non-resident individuals without specific approval from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.
Additional Saudi counterterror measures announced last week include:
— The Kingdom froze the accounts of suspected individuals and initiated investigations of transactions that the suspects linked to Al-Qaeda may have undertaken in the past. The information from these investigations was shared with US authorities.
— In the summer of 2002, Saudi Arabia and the United States took joint action and froze the assets of Wa’el Hamza Julaidan, an associate of Osama Bin Laden who provided financial and logistical support to Al-Qaeda.
— Saudi Arabia’s intelligence and military cooperation has led to the breakup of at least three Al-Qaeda cells and the arrest of key Al-Qaeda commanders, including Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, the planner of the 1998 Embassy bombings in Africa.
— Saudi Arabia has investigated bank accounts suspected to be linked to terrorism and froze 33 accounts belonging to three individuals and one institution totaling $5,574,196.00.
— The US and Saudi Arabia shut down the Somalia and Bosnia branches of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. While the US and Saudi Arabia jointly determined that the Saudi headquarters for this private charitable entity is dedicated to helping those in need, the two governments discovered that evildoers infiltrated the Somalia and Bosnia branches of Al-Haramain Foundation.
— Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has helped identify a network of companies and organizations that Osama Bin Laden used to move money around the world. The companies were located in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. The companies comprised a sophisticated network that wove through more than 25. Today, that network is substantially handicapped.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to fight the scourge of terrorism,” says Al-Jubair. “And it will do so with vigilance and determination for as long as it takes.”
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Arab News Features 12 December 2002