The United Nations (UN) has given the Kuwaiti government a 90-day deadline to respond to inquiries regarding the monitoring of charity funds in the Emirate. A UN commission specializing in terrorism described Kuwait’s financial collection monitoring policies “incoherent and not serving the purpose”, reported Arab Times.
The request follows a US appeal to the Central Bank of Kuwait to freeze the accounts of Islamic resistance movement Hamas. The UN commission recommended that the Kuwaiti government enforce a tighter grip on local charity funds and to ratify clear-cut laws that restrict the collection of public donations.
Authorities were also advised to impose stringent control on money transfers from Kuwait to persons or bank accounts abroad and were urged to pass legislation that would implicate citizens and expatriates who intentionally provide or collect funds.
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, some 1,439 accounts, containing more than $136.7 million in assets have been frozen worldwide. Some 173 nations have implemented orders to freeze terrorist assets, more than 100 countries have introduced new legislation to fight terrorist financing and 84 countries have established Financial Intelligence Units to share information. — (menareport.com).
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
