Shortcomings in enforcement allow Saudi individuals and charities to aid Islamic extremists

GAO: Saudi individuals, groups backing extremists

WASHINGTON — Shortcomings in enforcement are allowing Saudi individuals and charitable organizations to steer financial support to Islamic extremists in Afghanistan and elsewhere, congressional investigators say.

Working with the United States, the government of Saudi Arabia has made progress in stemming the flow of money to al-Qaida and other groups within the country, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday. But there’s been less headway in blocking Saudi bankrolling of terrorism and extremism beyond its borders, the report says.

There is no indication the Saudi government is providing funding for terrorism, investigators say.

Citing Treasury Department officials, investigators found that Saudi-based individuals are “a top source of funding for al-Qaida and associated terror groups, such as the Taliban.” No estimated amounts of these contributions are provided.

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has said the Taliban militants are receiving more money from Persian Gulf donors than from Afghanistan’s illegal drug trade.

Key Saudi enforcement agencies, especially the departments responsible for financial regulations, need more training and technical assistance to expand their capacity, the GAO says.

Another problem is the increasing use of couriers to carry cash across the border. This low-tech approach is an apparent response to Saudi Arabia’s adoption of stricter rules on formal financial transactions.

The GAO report also says a program operated by the Saudi government to rehabilitate terrorism supporters looks promising, but more time is needed to know how successful it is.

The program is intended to reintegrate into society Saudis who have been arrested for supporting terrorism or extremism. More than 4,300 people have received psychological therapy and religious re-education through the initiative. The effort began in Saudi prisons in 2004, and in 2007 it was extended to halfway houses, called aftercare centers.

One aftercare center in Riyadh visited by GAO investigators had treated 250 people. As of March 2009, the unit had a recidivism rate of 20 percent. Most of those who had returned to supporting terrorism or extremism were former Guantanamo detainees, the Saudis told the GAO.

Despite the results at this one location, U.S. and Saudi officials say the program has produced positive overall results. But they also cautioned that recidivism rates for criminology programs are generally measured at five-year intervals and the Saudi program had been under way at aftercare centers for only two years.

U.S. officials have been pressing for nearly 100 detainees at Guantanamo from Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia, to go through the Saudi rehabilitation. The effort has stalled, however.

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