Saudi Government Agrees To Block Laundered Funds

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

02 November 2001

There was relief on Wednesday when US officials announced that Saudi Arabia has agreed to freeze the assets of known and suspected terrorist money launderers.

Oil rich Saudi, which has long been an ally of the United States, had been seen to be wavering slightly on the issue of full cooperation in the international fight against money laundering, leading to accusations from US politicians that it was soft on domestic and international terrorism.

The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, expressed his pleasure at the decision: 'Everything we have asked them to do they have done,' he confirmed. The move follows a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council earlier this week, in which officials from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman all pledged support for the global crackdown on money laundering and terrorism, and agreed a joint strategy.

'This strategy emphasises the importance of cooperation, exchange of information and coordination in the fight against terrorism and extremism,' the GCC member states said in a statement.

The FATF, which held a two day emergency session in Washington this week, has announced that it does not intend to discuss possible sanctions against countries which fail to cooperate in the effort against terrorist financing until next June. However, it now seems likely that Saudi Arabia will not be included in this number.

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