The Government of Saudi Arabia today revealed a number of substantial legal and regulatory changes enacted over the past year to counter terrorism. Important steps have recently been taken to control charitable funds, prevent money laundering, and improve multi-lateral cooperation.  In cooperation with the United States and other countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been on the forefront of the war on terrorism.  Today's announcement was made to correct misperceptions about the Kingdom in this
area.

"For too long, Saudi Arabia has been wrongly accused of being uncooperative or ineffective in combating terrorism," stated Adel Al-Jubeir, the Foreign Policy Advisor to Crown Prince Abdullah.  "The unfounded charges against Saudi Arabia have gotten out of control.  We recognize that it is now incumbent on us to more openly articulate our anti-terrorism policies and actions."

One of the most noteworthy developments is in the area of charitable organizations.  Charitable giving is an important part of Islam and there are hundreds of legitimate charities throughout the Kingdom.  Saudi Arabia has recently completed a thorough review of its charitable organizations and has made a number of specific changes.  For example, all charities are now subject to extensive audits to ensure that the funds provided by donors are used for their intended purposes.  In addition, charities whose activities extend beyond Saudi Arabia's borders must now report and coordinate their activities with the Foreign Ministry.  Saudi Arabia has also established a High commission for oversight of all charities, and is in the final stage of setting up detailed Operational Procedures to track all donations to and from the charities.  The Government of Saudi Arabia believes these combined changes will substantially decrease its charitable sector's vulnerability to abuse by evil-doers.

According to Al-Jubeir, "Probably the most significant new action we have taken has been in the area of charitable giving.  In the past, we may have been naïve in our giving and did not have adequate controls over all of our donations.  As a consequence, some may have taken advantage of our charity\ and generosity.  With the new steps we are taking, this is now changing."

Saudi Arabia also announced plans to re-invigorate the joint Counter-Terrorism Committee with the United States to include, in addition to intelligence and law enforcement personnel, personnel with financial
expertise.

Saudi Arabia has also toughened its laws and regulations regarding money laundering.  Stated Al-Jubeir, "I would like to say that all of our efforts are new, but the fact is that we have had a very advanced legal and
regulatory framework for our banks and financial institutions for many years.  Still, one can always do more and in recent months, we have augmented anti-money laundering units in every Saudi bank.  We are
increasing the resources and training for these units."

Saudi Arabia recently established a Permanent Committee of representatives of various government agencies to manage all legal and other issues related to money laundering.  And as part of that oversight, the Kingdom has issued new regulations to prevent money laundering.  For instance, Saudi banks are
no longer permitted to open bank accounts for non-resident individuals without specific approval from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.

Other announced contributions include:

• The Kingdom froze the accounts of suspected individuals and initiated investigations of transactions that the suspects linked to Al-Qaeda may have undertaken in the past.  The information from these investigations has been shared with U.S. authorities.
• In the summer of 2002, Saudi Arabia and the United States took joint action and froze the assets of Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, an associate of Osama bin Laden who provided financial and logistical support to Al-Qaeda.
• Saudi Arabia's intelligence and military cooperation has led to the breakup of at least 3 Al-Qaeda cells and the arrest of key Al-Qaeda commanders, including Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the planner of the 1998 Embassy bombings in Africa.
• Saudi Arabia has investigated bank accounts suspected to be linked to terrorism and froze 33 accounts belonging to 3 individuals and one institution totaling $5,574,196.00.
• The U.S. and Saudi Arabia shut down the Somalia and Bosnia branches of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.  While U.S. and Saudi Arabia jointly determined that the Saudi headquarters for this private charitable entity is dedicated to helping those in need, the two governments discovered that the Somalia and Bosnia branches of Al-Haramain Foundation were infiltrated by evil-doers.
• Saudi Arabia, over the past few years, has helped identify a network of companies and organizations that Osama bin Laden used to move money around the world.  The companies were located in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.  A sophisticated network that weaved through more than 25 nations was uncovered.  Today, that network is substantially handicapped.

Stated Al-Jubeir, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to fight the scourge of terrorism and will do so with vigilance and determination for as long as it takes."

December 2002

Following the horrific events of September 11, an international coalition composed of over 100 nations was formed to combat terrorism. Saudi Arabia is a full partner in this coalition. The Office of the Coordinator for Counter Terrorism released a report on May 21, 2002, called "Patterns of Global
Terrorism" which stated:

"The Saudi government reaffirmed its commitment to combat terrorism and responded positively to requests for concrete action in support of Coalition efforts against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The King, Crown Prince, government-appointed religious leaders and official news media publicly and consistently condemned terrorism."

Since September 11, the government of Saudi Arabia has taken many actions to fight global terrorism. Following are concrete examples of these actions drawn from statements made by Saudi Arabian leaders, U.S. Administration officials, news articles and press releases confirming the efforts on the war on terrorism by the government of Saudi Arabia.

This summary report covers:

• Executive Summary
• International Cooperation
• Arrests and Questioning of Suspects
• Actions Taken With Regard to Charitable Organizations
• Freezing Terrorist Assets Suspected of Links to Terrorism
• Legal and Regulatory Actions to Combat Terrorism
• Other Initiatives Related to Fighting Terrorism

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Saudi Arabia has been a victim of terrorism for more than 30 years. Al-Qaeda first struck against the Kingdom in 1995.  Since that time, Saudi Arabia has been working with the United States and other friends and allies to confront this murderous organization.  One of the most important elements in this effort has been the attempt to choke the financing of Al-Qaeda.  In 1994, Saudi Arabia froze all of Osama bin Laden's assets.  In 1996, the Kingdom established a joint Counter-Terrorism Committee with the United
States to share information on Al-Qaeda.  Following the tragedy of September 11, Saudi Arabia has increased its counter-terrorism efforts with initiatives such as:

• GREATER OVERSIGHT OF CHARITIES:  Saudi Arabia has put new laws and regulations in place for all charitable groups to ensure that they are not taken advantage of by evil-doers.  All charities must now be audited to prevent the flow of funds to ends other than charity.  In addition,
  charitable activities extending beyond the borders of Saudi Arabia must now be reported to and coordinated with the Foreign Ministry.
• NEW LAWS AND REGULATIONS:  Saudi Arabia has further strengthened its laws and regulations regarding money laundering.  The Kingdom has established a Permanent Committee of representatives of various ministries and agencies to oversee efforts to combat money laundering.  These efforts include strict new rules concerning the verification of customer identities as well as
  restrictions on non-residents' ability to open accounts in Saudi Arabia.
• MULTI-NATIONAL COOPERATION: Saudi Arabia and the United States maintain a Counter-Terrorism Committee comprised of intelligence and law enforcement personnel who meet regularly to share information and resources and develop action plans to root out terrorist networks.  Saudi Arabia also maintains close relationships with the intelligence and law enforcement agencies of many other nations involved in the War on Terror.
• FREEZING TERRORIST ASSETS:  In accordance with the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, the Kingdom has not only frozen assets, but also initiated