SAUDIS ALLOWED TO FUND AL QAIDA

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has determined that Saudi Arabia
continues to allow citizens to finance Al Qaida, including its insurgency
campaign in Iraq.

U.S. officials said that despite numerous appeals the Saudi kingdom has not
arrested financiers of Al Qaida or related groups. They said the kingdom has
also failed to freeze the assets of leading Saudi financiers of Islamic
insurgency groups.

"Wealthy Saudi financiers and charities have funded terrorist organizations
and causes that support terrorism and the ideology that fuels the
terrorists' agenda," Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey said. "Even today,
we believe that Saudi donors may still be a significant source of terrorist
financing, including for the insurgency in Iraq."

It was the first time a senior Bush administration official asserted that
Saudi nationals have been financing the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. Over the
last two years, the Bush administration has blamed Syria for the flow of
insurgents and funding into Iraq.
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