Report: Hill Must Fight Terror Funding

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Report: Hill Must Fight Terror Funding
Military.com | By Bryant Jordan | October 15, 2007


Congress is going to have to weigh in with the White House to encourage the Saudis to stem the flow of financial aid to terrorist groups, and perhaps also hold hearings on the issues, analysts with the Congressional Research Service say in a Sept. 14 report to Congress.

The Treasury Department, meanwhile - almost as if it was adding an exclamation point to the report - on Oct. 10 added three Saudi nationals to its lengthy list of foreigners alleged to be financing terrorism or other crimes.

Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi, Muhammad Abdallah Salih Sughayr and Fahd Muhammad Abd Al-Aziz Al-Khashiban made the list for providing support to the Abu Sayyaf Group, which Treasury says in an al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group responsible for multiple bombings, kidnappings and other terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia.

"These three terrorist financiers were instrumental in raising money to fund terrorism outside of Saudi Arabia," Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. "In order to deter other would-be donors, it is important to hold these terrorists publicly accountable."

To read the CRS report, however, is to wonder who is being held accountable in Saudi Arabia.

"To date, U.S. officials have continued to express their disappointment with Saudi enforcement measures, particularly with a lack of public prosecutions for individuals accused of financing terrorism outside of the kingdom," say Christopher Blanchard and Alfred Prados, authors of the CRS report.


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