U.S., Saudi to freeze al-Qaeda-linked assets

U.S., Saudi to freeze al-Qaeda-linked assets

Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press, Washington

The United States and Saudi Arabia are seeking international
support to choke off funding to four branches of a Saudi charity
that authorities say diverted money to help bankroll al-Qaeda's
terrorist activities.

The branches of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation are in
Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania and Pakistan, the U.S. and Saudi
governments said on Thursday in a joint announcement.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia want the United Nations to
add the four branches to its blacklist of suspected terrorist
financiers, which member countries must honor.

"These branches have provided financial, material and
logistical support to the al-Qaeda network and other terrorist
organizations," the Treasury Department said.

Al-Haramain has denied any link to terrorist activities and
said it was only involved in charity work for the poor.

Officials did not say how much money in charitable
contributions at the four branches may have been diverted to
support suspected terrorist activities.

At its height, Saudi-based Al-Haramain raised $40 million to
$50 million a year in charitable contributions worldwide, said
Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah.

Also on Thursday, the Bush administration ordered U.S. banks
to freeze any assets found in this country that belong to the
four branches. It was not known whether the branches have bank
accounts or other assets in the U.S..

"The four branches of Al-Haramain have cloaked themselves in
the virtue of charity done so only to fund and support terrorist
organizations around the world," said Treasury Secretary John
Snow.

With this latest action, the U.S. has acted to freeze
the assets of six branches of the charity. The U.S. and
Saudi Arabia have not moved to shut down the charity's main
office in Saudi Arabia, officials said. Investigation continue,
they said.

The two countries acted on March 11, 2002, to block the funds
of the charity's branches in Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Authorities believe contributions were diverted to support
terrorism.

Last month, the Saudis and the U.S. asked the United
Nations to add Vazir, a nonprofit organization with headquarters
in Travnik, Bosnia, to its list of suspected terrorist
financiers. U.S. officials said Vazir was picking up where the
closed Bosnia branch of Al-Haramain left off.

The Saudi government in 2003 ordered Al-Haramain to close all
of its overseas branches, according to the Treasury Department.

"Al-Haramain stated it closed branches in Indonesia, Kenya,
Tanzania and Pakistan, but continued monitoring by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia indicates that these offices and or
former officials associated with these branches are either
continuing to operate or have other plans to avoid these
measures," the department said.

Some in Congress have raised questions about Saudi Arabia's
cooperation in the fight against terrorism and have criticized
the administration's relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Sen. Charles Schumer and other lawmakers have contended that
in an attempt to maintain good relations with the kingdom because
of its oil, U.S. officials ignore Saudi Arabia's lack of
democracy, its religious intolerance and what critics say are
less than aggressive efforts against terrorism.