Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest source of funds for terrorist groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba – but the Saudi government is reluctant to stem the flow of money, according to a report by The Guardian quoting Hillary Clinton.“More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al Qaeda, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups,” says a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state. Her memo urged US diplomats to redouble their efforts to stop Gulf money reaching terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide,” she said. Three other Arab countries are listed as sources of terrorist money – Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The other major headache for the US in the Gulf region is the UAE. The Afghan Taliban and their partners, the Haqqani network, earn “significant funds” through UAE-based businesses, according to one report. The Taliban extort money from the large Pakhtun community in the UAE.
Kuwait is also described as a “source of funds and a key transit point” for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. While the government has acted against attacks on its own soil, it is “less inclined to take action against Kuwait-based financiers and facilitators plotting attacks outside of Kuwait”.
There is little information about militant fundraising in the fourth Gulf country singled out, Qatar, other than to say its “overall level of couter-terrorism cooperation with the US is considered the worst in the region”.
But foreign leaders have resisted US pressure for more aggressive crackdowns on suspected supporters of terrorism, according to The New York Times. In private meetings, they have accused US officials of pursuing Arab charities and individuals in a heavy-handed manner and on thin evidence.
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