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EDITOR'S NOTE:
The following is a transcript of remarks made by Juan Zarate, U.S. Treasury
Deputy Assistant Secretary, at the U.S.-Saudi press conference, which
addressed actions taken in the financial war on terror. The conference
was held on June 2, 2004.
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Joint U.S. and Saudi Action in the Financial
War on Terror -- Remarks of Juan Zarate, U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary |
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 Juan Zarate, U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary:
Thank
you very much, Adel, for inviting us here today to make this important
announcement.
I am pleased to announce that,
once again, the United States and Saudi Arabia have joined forces to identify
and choke off additional channels of terrorist financing.
Today, the U.S. and Saudi
Arabia are designating five additional branches of the Saudi-based charity, Al
Haramain, located in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the
Netherlands. We will jointly be submitting these names to the United Nations
1267 Committee for listing by the United Nations. In doing so, we are calling
on the U.N. to designate these groups as well, which will bring to bear the
full weight of the international community and require the freezing of any
accounts or transactions now or in the future. This is another important joint
step with the Saudi government -- steps that began in March 2002 to designate
known supporters of terrorism.
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The United States is also
announcing today the designation of Al Haramain's former leader, Aqeel
Abdulaziz Al-Aqil, and will be submitting his name to the United Nations for
designation as well.
These entities and this
individual have provided financial, material and logistical support to the Al
Qaida network, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban, fueling and facilitating their
efforts to carry out vile acts against innocent individuals and the civilized
world.
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The
terrorist attacks this
past weekend in the
Kingdom demonstrate again
that we are engaged in a
global battle against
terrorism -- a battle that
affects Saudi Arabia
directly, on a daily basis. |
The terrorist attacks this
past weekend in the Kingdom demonstrate again that we are engaged in a global
battle against terrorism -- a battle that affects Saudi Arabia directly on a
daily basis. As we have seen over the course of Al Qaida's history, it
terrorizes and kills victims around the world of every race, creed and color.
These terrorists and their
sympathizers have abused charities not only as a means of raising funds but
also to provide logistical support and cover for terrorist operations. That is
the case with the branches and activities of Al Haramain we have designated.
It was under the cloak of charity that Aqeel al Aqil used the Al Haramain
organization to benefit himself and Al Qaida to support Al Qaida-related
groups like Al Ittihad Al Islamiya and Al Qaida trained fighters. Mr. Aqil has
attempted to evade Saudi controls on his finances, and we have worked with the
Saudi government to ensure that he can no longer wield control over Al
Haramain and its resources.
The use of charities for
terrorist financing is not a new phenomenon, nor do we think it will stop with
these actions. That is why we are pleased that the Saudi government has taken
even more aggressive structural and regulatory steps to deal with the abuse of
charities within the Kingdom. With the announcement of the Saudi National
Commission for Relief and Charity Work, the Saudi government is signaling
again its long-term commitment to reform in this sector.
We will continue to work with
our international partners and the charitable community to protect the sector
from terrorists, who mock the very notion of charity and use it to fuel their
hate-filled agendas.
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The Bush Administration is
committed to rooting out terrorism root and branch through all possible means.
Our worldwide effort to attack the financial infrastructure of terror has made
it more difficult for Al Qaida and other terrorist groups to underwrite terror
and has forced them to resort to less secure methods to move dollars.
With today's action, 374
individuals and entities have been designated under President Bush's Executive
Order aimed at freezing the assets of terrorists and their supporters. Nearly
$140 million in terrorist-related assets has been frozen as a result of
efforts by the United States and its allies.
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Continued
collective
efforts by Saudi
Arabia and our
international allies,
like today's, will
lead to further
successes in the
financial war on
terror. |
Though our struggle against
terrorism is not over, actions like today's can foil the short-term goals of
terrorists while thwarting their long-term ambitions leading to the ultimate
dismantling of terrorist networks.
Continued collective efforts
by Saudi Arabia and our international allies, like today's, will lead to
further successes in the financial war on terror. We will not tire in these
efforts we will continue to cut off channels of financing, we will ostracize
those who supporter or facilitate terrorism, we will continue to capture or
kill operatives and facilitators and we will bring to justice those who seek
to do us harm. The civilized world has rallied against terrorism, and we
remain resolute in our efforts.
Thank you very much.
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