(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) - Radical Islamic groups receive a constant flow of money from wealthy families and charities in Saudi Arabia, experts on Thursday told a Senate panel investigating the money trail of terrorists. These influential families have provided the seed money and support to build a global network that terrorists have used, said R. Richard Newcomb, director of the office of Foreign Assets Control at the Treasury Department. Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, testified that three of the most prominent Islamic charities in Saudi Arabia are suspected of funding terrorists. "They are not NGOs (non-governmental organizations), they are GOs, government organizations," Gold said. "At the apex of each organization's board is a top Saudi official....All three organizations are suspected by various global intelligence organizations of terrorist funding," Gold said. "All three organizations have received large charitable contributions from the Saudi royal family and have been detailed in Saudi periodicals."
2003-08-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive