Wealthy Gulf Arab states are cracking down on Islamic charities suspected of financing the activities of Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda movement, prime suspects in last month's devastating attacks on New York and Washington.
"Some Gulf governments are apparently coming under US pressure. But charities have nothing to hide and their activities are characterized by transparency," Hassan Ibrahim, an official from a Dubai-based charity, told AFP Wednesday, October 3.
Kuwait, seemingly responding to US pressure and a UN Security Council resolution aimed at drying up the financial resources of alleged terrorist groups, has led the way in tightening the noose around welfare associations suspected of channeling funds to terrorists.
Authorities in the oil-rich Gulf emirate have set up a ministerial committee to regulate the activities of charities and ruled that any donations destined for foreign parties would henceforth be supervised by the foreign ministry and the Kuwaiti embassy in the recipient country.
The move, aimed at more than 100 welfare associations controlled by Islamist groups and alleged to be operating illegally, has been applauded by Kuwait's liberal activists but denounced by Islamist MPs.
Mohammed Al-Basiri, spokesman for the fundamentalist Islamic Constitutional Movement, warned that "(Islamist) members of parliament would resist any repressive measure against these societies."
The measures introduced by the Kuwaiti government tie the hands of Islamic charities which, like fellow non-governmental organizations in other Gulf monarchies, channel funds to various trouble spots, notably in Asia and Africa.
In Saudi Arabia, where most NGOs are closely monitored by the interior ministry, the head of the Al-Haramain charity dismissed suggestions that welfare associations based in the kingdom might be involved in political or terrorist activities.
The activities of Saudi charities are "under tight administrative and financial control," Sheikh Aqil Al-Aqil said Wednesday. Charges that those charities might be bankrolling terrorist activities are "unfounded and based on media speculation," he added.
Saudi Arabia's central bank said on Monday that it was applying "strict measures" to "follow up on and control money laundering and the illegal transfer of funds." Saad Al-Fagih, head of the London-based Saudi Islamist dissident group known as the Movement for Islamic Reform (MIR), ruled out "any channeling of funds by (Saudi) charities to terrorist groups, since these societies are tightly controlled by the interior ministry."
"Bin Laden knows full well that the government is closely watching these charities," Fagih told AFP. "Moreover, he (Bin Laden) does not want to harm these (charities)," he added.
In Qatar, authorities have so far refrained from introducing any restrictions on the activities of welfare associations, but they are "discreetly inquiring to find out whether any funds are reaching (terrorist groups)," according to an official from a Gulf charity.
"Qataris are, for instance, wondering about the reasons behind the resignation of the board chairman of Qatar's Welfare Association, Abdullah Al-Dabbagh, which coincided with the US (anti-terror) campaign," the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, for their part, have ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of individuals and organizations suspected of having terrorist links.
"Do we now have to ask for (US President) George W. Bush's permission to pay zakat (alms)," asked one Dubai-based charity official. ― (AFP, Dubai)
by Habib Trabelsi
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
