Bridging the Persian Gulf

By Matthew Levitt

As my colleague Michael Jacobson argue in an article published in today's Guardian (UK), terrorist networks are active in the Persian Gulf -- including some that finance the group that carried out the Mumbai attack. US diplomacy in the region is the key to combating them.

After months of intense focus on the economy, the recent attack in Mumbai was a sombre reminder that the incoming Obama administration will have to confront many other serious threats as well. Beyond terrorism, Iran's nuclear programme is also likely to be high on the president-elect's priority list. The success of US strategy in tackling and resolving these critical issues will depend, in large part, on how effectively the new administration is able to work with -- and gain the cooperation of -- the countries in the Persian Gulf.
The Mumbai attack offers a case in point. The Gulf remains a major source of funding for al-Qaida and its affiliates, with millions of dollars being sent from the region to terrorist groups. Recipients of this largesse originating in the Gulf include the Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) -- a UN designated terrorist group now suspected of perpetrating the recent attack in India.

LeT operatives and supporters are particularly active in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, according to US Treasury department information released in the context of LeT-related terrorist support designations.

Consider, for example, the fact that LeT's finance chief, Haji Muhammad Ashraf, has personally traveled to the Gulf to raise funds for LeT. In 2003, he helped LeT leaders in Saudi Arabia expand the organisation and increase its fundraising activities there. Similarly, the Saudi-based al Haramain Islamic Foundation was designated as a terrorist-supporting entity in part because its office in Pakistan supported LeT.

The full article is available here.

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