Congresswoman: Saudi Prince's Visit Should Include Commitments on Terrorism

By Andrew Cochran

Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is visiting President Bush's ranch in Texas at a sensitive time. A former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia says that the Saudis have assisted the U.S. in Lebanon, increased oil production at crucial times, and taken initial steps towards introducing democratic reforms. But the extent of Saudi cooperation in counterterrorism (or lack thereof) is getting overlooked in wire service stories (the linked AP story gives the last two sentences to the issue). Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) reminds us today in an op-ed and in the NYT's story on the visit that the Saudis have a long way to go before they can claim that they are fully engaged against Al Qaeda and other Islamic-based terrorists. Rep. Kelly chairs a key oversight committee in the U.S. House, founded a special task force on terrorist financing, and recently visited Saudi Arabia, where she met with senior Saudi leaders.

She writes that, "No financial intelligence unit actually exists today in Saudi Arabia. This is unacceptable...The Saudis deserve a measure of credit for recently trying to place controls on their government-sponsored charities. But international Islamic charities based in Saudi Arabia are mostly unaffected...And while the Saudis have been perhaps more aggressive than any country in the region in urging its citizens to reject terrorism, it is still difficult to say a strong message has been delivered with regard to terror finance. The virtual absence of convictions for terror finance offenses in Saudi Arabia since 9/11 has often been mentioned."

TrackBack