RIYADH, 5 March — US Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill will arrive in the Kingdom today for a three-day visit as a part of a Gulf tour, aimed at tightening the squeeze on terror group finances.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, O’Neill and his Saudi counterpart, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, will discuss ways of expanding economic cooperation between the two allies.
The two officials will chair a meeting of the Saudi-US Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation. O’Neill will also meet with other Saudi officials in Jeddah and visit a number of economic installations in the city.
O’Neill launched his Gulf tour in Bahrain, the region’s leading offshore banking center, and held talks with King Hamad ibn Isa Al-Khalifa on ways to “further enhance ties in the finance and banking fields,” the Bahrain News Agency reported.
Speaking at a press conference in Manama after the talks, O’Neill said the United States and Bahrain were preparing to draft an agreement to stop the flow of funds from charity groups to terrorist groups.
“We are on our way to draft an agreement that can be adopted by nations around the world,” on the fight against financial networks that provide funds for “terrorist” activities, he said, adding that the agreement would ensure that charity money would not be diverted and channeled to terrorist groups around the world.
“I think a lot of people around the world, whose compassionate spirit is touched enough to give money to others, I want that money to go for the intended purpose that they designed it to go to,” O’Neill said.
“Bahrain accords high priority to the economic and investment fields through the wide range of facilities it provides to attract foreign capital and to increase its trade exchange with Arab and foreign countries,” King Hamad said.
The current Gulf tour will also take the US official to the United Arab Emirates.
“It is our hope that other governments will take the lead in identifying terrorists and their supporters, so that together the civilized world can shut down their (terrorist) organizations and eradicate their sources of support,” O’Neill said last week.
He wants to learn more about financing channels used by terrorist groups and to strengthen dialogue with Arab states as part of the US-led anti-terrorism campaign, Treasury Department spokesman Rob Nichols said.
“But the purpose of the secretary’s engagement is not to talk about specific cases,” Nichols said.
Instead, O’Neill will focus on new regulatory measures for Islamic banking, money changing operations known as “hawalas” and charitable organizations that would help them avoid penetration by terrorist groups, the spokesman said.
During his Gulf tour O’Neill will hold talks with finance ministers and governors of central banks. He will also meet with representatives of the banking industry in the four states to ensure transparency.
Saudi Arabia has pledged to bring the charitable organizations in the country under strict supervision.
