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Editor's Note:
This Saudi-American Forum Item
of Interest addresses the announcement made by U.S. Secretary of
the Treasury, John Snow, that the United States would work
jointly with Saudi Arabia to freeze the assets of four branches
of the Al-Haramain charity organization.
The following is a transcript of
Mr. Snow's statement as well as the remarks made by Adel Al-Jubeir,
Foreign Affairs Advisor to Crown Prince Abdullah. The
statements were made on January 22, 2004. Links to related
news stories are also included in this item of
interest.
 Prepared
Remarks of Treasury Secretary John Snow to Announce Joint U.S.
and Saudi Action Against Four Branches of Al-Haramain in the
Financial War on Terror
Thank you very much for being
here today.
I am very pleased to announce
that the United States and Saudi Arabia have joined together
today to take action against four branches of the Al-Haramain
organization. Today’s
designation is another important victory in our ongoing war
against the spread of terrorism and terrorist financiers and
another demonstration of our partnership in the war against
terror.
The four branches of Al-Haramain
that we are singling out today have not only supported the
plotting of despicable acts of terror, but they have done so by
exploiting countless individuals who believed that by supporting
Al-Haramain, they were, in fact spreading good will to many in
need of a helping hand.
The four branches of Al-Haramain
have cloaked themselves in the virtue of charity, only to fund
and support terrorist organizations around the world - such as
the al-Qaeda network.
These four branches located in
Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Pakistan have ignored past
orders to cease their operations.
By designating these
organizations under the President’s Executive Order Number
13224, and joining with Saudi Arabia to call on the United
Nations 1267 Sanctions Committee to designate these groups as
well, we bring to bear the full weight of the international
community.
We will continue to vigilantly
work to ensure that these groups will no longer be able to
disguise themselves as legitimate and benevolent organizations
in order to undermine peace and freedom.
We know generous givers to
charities provide hundreds of millions of dollars to improve the
lives of countless people around the world.
We will not interfere with the
noble work of legitimate charities.
But donors need to be assured
that their contributions are being used for their intended
purposes -- and not to fuel the activity of terrorists.
Make no mistake; this
administration will continue to take aggressive actions, both
domestically and internationally, to ensure that charities are
not being abused by terrorists or other criminals.
Just days ago, during the State
of the Union address, President Bush stated that our greatest
responsibility is the active defense of the American people.
Twenty-eight months have passed
since September 11th, 2001 -- over two years without an attack
on American soil. As the President said, it is tempting to
believe that the danger is behind us. But the terrorists
continue to plot against America and the civilized world.
However, we too are on the
offensive against the terrorists who started this war.
We're tracking al Qaeda around the world, and nearly two-thirds
of their known leaders have now been captured or killed.
As part of the
Administration’s offensive against terror the President
mentioned during his national address, the Treasury Department
is confronting networks that funnel money to terrorists.
The United States, Saudi Arabia,
and our other partners around the globe have spoken out loud and
clear – terrorism has no place in a civilized world. We
will continue to work with Saudi Arabia and all our allies in
the war against terror to seek out those who bankroll terrorist
organizations and shut them down.
Thank
you very much.
Source:
U.S.
Department of the Treasury
 Statement
by Adel Al-Jubeir, Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Crown Prince
[in
Washington DC, at the U.S. Department of Treasury press
conference where Saudi Arabia and the United States jointly
designated four Al-Haramain branches as financiers of terrorism]
Thank you Mr. Secretary.
Today’s announcement is an
important one, because it represents another victory in the war
against terror. It also reflects the extent of the strong
cooperation between our two governments. Both of our
countries are targets of Al-Qaeda, and as a consequence both the
Saudi and the American people live under the threat of terror
attacks. Today we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in this war
against evil.
The Kingdom is locked in a
mortal combat with a vicious and cruel enemy we are determined
to defeat. The objective of Al-Qaeda is to destabilize our
country, overthrow the established order, and replace it with a
Taliban-like regime that can control the cradle of Islam and a
quarter of the world’s oil.
But they will not succeed.
This is a war that we will not lose. We owe it to our
people to rid our country and the world of the scourge of
terror. And, with the help of God Almighty, we shall
succeed.
We have arrested over 600 terror
suspects; many of the top Al-Qaeda leaders in the Kingdom have
been killed or captured. And scores of cells and training
camps have been uncovered and destroyed before they could do any
harm to the innocent.
But this is not enough. We
are not only going after the terrorists, but also the money and
the mindset that support them or condone their actions,
regardless of where they exist.
In addition to the designations
we are making today, we have also taken bold steps to change our
laws to ensure that no funds intended to help those less
fortunate end up in the hands of evildoers. Charity is
noble, and a requirement of our faith. And donors must be
assured that the money they give to help others is not diverted
for evil purposes.
Saudi Arabia is also taking
aggressive action to purge extremist thought from our society.
Our faith, Islam, is a religion of peace and tolerance and
inclusion. King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah have
pledged to uproot the sources of extremism wherever they may
exist. And with the help of God Almighty, we shall do so.
Today’s designations are a
visible result of months of hard work by Saudi and U.S.
officials from across many departments. They are the
result of the close cooperation that exists between our two
countries, which – contrary to the pontifications of some
observers – has actually been strengthened since September 11.
Today, Saudi authorities and their U.S. counterparts work side
by side in teams dedicated to fighting terrorism and unraveling
the worldwide financial networks that support it.
Where we once shared information across oceans, we now share it
across a desk. The effectiveness of our cooperative
efforts is unprecedented and has led to today’s actions.
And we expect more to come.
In
conclusion, I would like to commend the Bush Administration and
the many vigilant members of the Saudi and American law
enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as officials from
the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and the U.S. Treasury
Department for their tireless efforts. The sacrifices
these brave individuals have made allow us to enjoy the benefits
of security and peace.
Related
News Stories
- "Treasury
Announces Joint Action with Saudi Arabia Against Four
Branches of Al-Haramain in the Fight Against Terror
Financing," Press Release by the U.S. Department of the
Treasury
- "Department
of the Treasury to Announce Joint Action with Saudi Arabia
in the Financial War on Terror," Media Advisory by the
U.S. Department of the Treasury
- "Saudi
Arabia and the United States jointly designate four
organizations as financiers of terrorism," Press
Release by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington,
D.C.
- "U.S.
and Saudis Act to Freeze Charity's Assets," by Edmund
L. Andrews, New York Times
- "U.S.
freezes Saudi charity assets," by Elise Labott, CNN
online
- "U.S.,
Saudis seek to freeze assets," by Jeannine Aversa, The
Guardian, UK
- "U.S.,
Saudi Arabia target Muslim charity," by Mark Matthews, The
Baltimore Sun
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