The United States has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia is
funding an Islamic insurgency group that has carried out the bulk of
Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets.
The administration's acknowledgement of Saudi funding to Hamas came
under heavy pressure from Congress, which has sponsored a bill calling on
Riyad to condemn terrorism. An increasing number of House and Senate members
have been calling for an investigation of Saudi financing of Hamas and other
Palestinian groups that have carried out suicide bombings in Israeli cities.
On Thursday, President George Bush discussed Saudi funding of Hamas
during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Middle East Newsline reported. Bush
said Saudi Arabia is cooperating in halting the flow of funding to terrorist
groups.
"We're constantly working with him and his government on
intelligence-sharing and cutting off money," Bush said after his meeting
with Abdullah. And we're reminding him on occasion where we find money
flows, and the government has been acting, and I appreciate that very much."
The Bush administration said Riyad is sending tens of millions of
dollars to both the Palestinian Authority as well as Hamas. Hamas, the
leading Palestinian opposition group, is on the list of the State Department
terrorist organizations.
Later, a senior U.S. administration official said Riyad denied that more
than $100 million raised during a Saudi telethon last week was being sent to
support Palestinian suicide bombings. The official would not say whether the
administration accepts the Saudi explanation.
"The Saudis gave us a detailed explanation that, in fact, the telethon
proceeds are being funneled through non-governmental organizations,
including through the Red Cross, to deal with humanitarian issues," the
administration official said. "And they themselves drew a very sharp
distinction between what they are doing, which is to try to provide some
humanitarian support to people in need and families in need, to the contrast
of what Saddam Hussein is doing, in paying $25,000 to families who will
sacrifice their children to suicide bombings."
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Saudi funds have been sent to
Hamas. Powell told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday that he was informed
of Saudi support of Hamas by PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.
U.S. officials said Bush did not discuss with Abdullah the future of the
American military presence in the kingdom. Instead, the Arab-Israeli
conflict, Iraq as well as energy issues were high on the agenda of the
Abdullah-Bush summit.
The officials said Bush and his aides sought to ensure that Saudi Arabia
will maintain current oil production levels as well as proceed with a $25
billion plan to explore and develop natural gas reserves in the southern
part of the kingdom. U.S. companies such as Exxon-Mobil and Conoco are
frontrunners in the competition for the project, which has been delayed for
more than a year.
