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Saudis admit funding Hamas

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, June 13, 2003

Saudi Arabia has acknowledged that it sends funds to Hamas.

The top Saudi spokesman in the United States told a Washington press conference the kingdom has relayed funds that finance what he termed Hamas's political wing. He said the money arrives via governments and non-governmental organizations.



Western intelligence sources say that Saudi Arabia provides Hamas with about $30 million a year, raised through foundations and donations from members of the royal family.

The disclosure came as the United States has reiterated its appeal for Arab leaders to end the funding of Hamas. President George Bush raised the issue of Saudi funding to Hamas during the summit in Sharm e-Sheik last week, Middle East Newsline reported.

Adel Al Jubeir, the special adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, told a news conference in Washington on Thursday that the kingdom does not support Islamic insurgency attacks. But he said Riyad funds organizations that could relay money to the "political wing of Hamas for charities they manage in the occupied territories."

"Whether these are families that have lost a loved one to violence, we do not know," Al Jubeir said. "But we certainly don't give them money because a family member blew himself up in a suicide bombing."

"I think you're quite aware that at the Red Sea summits there were fairly specific statements about what they would do," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, referring to Saudi leaders, said in a briefing on Thursday. "The Saudis have already started to detail how they're implementing that, and that's good."

Al Jubeir, regarded as Saudi Arabia's leading spokesman in the United States, appeared uncertain in detailing the kingdom's links with Hamas. At one point in his briefing at the Saudi embassy, he said Riyad's support to the Palestinians is similar to the humanitarian aid provided by the United States.

"Our funding to the Palestinians goes through international organizations, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the International Red Cross, International Red Crescent and through the Palestinian Authority," Al Jubeir said. "A lot of the institutions may be run or managed by the political wing of Hamas. That may be the case. I'm not an expert on this. But we do not fund terrorists."

The Saudi adviser refused to support the State Department's classification of Hamas as a terrorist group. He also refused to criticize Hamas suicide bombings of Israeli civilians.

"We condemn anyone who takes the lives of innocent people," Al Jubeir said.

The Saudi adviser outlined new regulations to monitor Islamic charities to ensure that they are not diverted to what he termed "terrorist financing and money laundering." The Saudi campaign was intensified in wake of the May 12 Al Qaida suicide bombings against Western compounds in Riyad.

Al Jubeir said the kingdom has interrogated more than 1,000 people arrested more than 300 and dismissed a large number of clerics deemed as having promoted Islamic attacks. He said the kingdom-sponsored Al Haramein Foundation has closed its offices outside Saudi Arabia. Al Haramein has been cited by the United States as an organization that has funneled money to Al Qaida and aligned groups.

"Hundreds of imams [mosque preachers] who violated prohibitions against preaching intolerance have been removed from their positions and more than 1,000 have been suspended and referred to educational programs," Al Jubeir said.

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