Follow the money: Wikileaks
Source: NYTIMES
Nine years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, there is still a seemingly limitless stream of cash flowing to terrorist groups from private charities and contributors in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. According to classified State Department cables recently released by WikiLeaks, governments in all three countries — all close American allies — are not doing enough to shut down that flow of money.
In a December 2009 cable to American diplomats in the region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warns that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide” and says that persuading Saudi leaders to treat this as a priority is “an ongoing challenge.”
The cable also said that while the Saudi government has taken important steps to criminalize terror financing and restrict the movement of money overseas, it still looks the other way when it comes to certain favored organizations. Fund-raising at pilgrimages to Mecca is believed to produce millions of dollars annually for extremists. The cable suggests an even more serious problem in Kuwait, where Islamic charities are largely unregulated. The three gulf states are also not doing enough to disrupt crimes, including drug trafficking and kidnappings for ransom, that produce revenue for terrorists.
After Sept. 11, Saudi Arabia turned a blind eye to the terrorist threat even though Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi-born. Al Qaeda’s attempts in recent years to assassinate members of the Saudi royal family has had an impact. The Saudis increasingly share intelligence with Washington and in October provided the information that helped the United States find bombs being shipped to the United States on planes. Still, the kingdom needs to do more, including reforming an educational and political system where extremism is too often encouraged in mosques and schools.
Working with Qatar and Kuwait has apparently been even harder. In the same cable, Mrs. Clinton described Qatar as the “worst in the region” on counterterrorism and Kuwait as a “key transit point” for terrorist money. Kuwait is the only member of the Gulf Cooperation Council without a terrorist financing law. The cable also warns that weak regulatory oversight of the United Arab Emirates’ growing financial center makes it vulnerable to abuse by terror financiers.
For years, Arab governments thought they could buy off the extremists to keep them from attacking their countries — and experts say that may still be happening in some cases. As the attacks in Saudi Arabia make clear, there is no immunity. Al Qaeda and its allies are as determined to bring down moderate Muslim governments as they are to destroy the West.
None of these governments are known for political courage. Washington needs to keep reminding them that this is an issue of their own survival, while pressing them and others to share information, adopt tougher controls on money flows, and improve law enforcement.
Another problem is that terrorism can be done on the cheap. Al Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula recently claimed on a Web site that the October parcel bomb operation cost just $4,200.
Nine years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, there is still a seemingly limitless stream of cash flowing to terrorist groups from private charities and contributors in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. According to classified State Department cables recently released by WikiLeaks, governments in all three countries — all close American allies — are not doing enough to shut down that flow of money.
In a December 2009 cable to American diplomats in the region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warns that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide” and says that persuading Saudi leaders to treat this as a priority is “an ongoing challenge.”
The cable also said that while the Saudi government has taken important steps to criminalize terror financing and restrict the movement of money overseas, it still looks the other way when it comes to certain favored organizations. Fund-raising at pilgrimages to Mecca is believed to produce millions of dollars annually for extremists. The cable suggests an even more serious problem in Kuwait, where Islamic charities are largely unregulated. The three gulf states are also not doing enough to disrupt crimes, including drug trafficking and kidnappings for ransom, that produce revenue for terrorists.
After Sept. 11, Saudi Arabia turned a blind eye to the terrorist threat even though Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi-born. Al Qaeda’s attempts in recent years to assassinate members of the Saudi royal family has had an impact. The Saudis increasingly share intelligence with Washington and in October provided the information that helped the United States find bombs being shipped to the United States on planes. Still, the kingdom needs to do more, including reforming an educational and political system where extremism is too often encouraged in mosques and schools.
Working with Qatar and Kuwait has apparently been even harder. In the same cable, Mrs. Clinton described Qatar as the “worst in the region” on counterterrorism and Kuwait as a “key transit point” for terrorist money. Kuwait is the only member of the Gulf Cooperation Council without a terrorist financing law. The cable also warns that weak regulatory oversight of the United Arab Emirates’ growing financial center makes it vulnerable to abuse by terror financiers.
For years, Arab governments thought they could buy off the extremists to keep them from attacking their countries — and experts say that may still be happening in some cases. As the attacks in Saudi Arabia make clear, there is no immunity. Al Qaeda and its allies are as determined to bring down moderate Muslim governments as they are to destroy the West.
None of these governments are known for political courage. Washington needs to keep reminding them that this is an issue of their own survival, while pressing them and others to share information, adopt tougher controls on money flows, and improve law enforcement.
Another problem is that terrorism can be done on the cheap. Al Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula recently claimed on a Web site that the October parcel bomb operation cost just $4,200.
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