Saudis, U.S. take aim at Muslim charity with suspected terror ties
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States and Saudi Arabia will ask the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to provide more help in blocking the assets of a Muslim charity accused of backing terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, a senior Saudi official told CNN Tuesday night.
In January, the United States added four branches of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation -- in Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania and Pakistan -- to its list of groups and people suspected of bankrolling terrorism, requiring banks to check their records and freeze their finances.
If the Security Council agrees to help, U.N. member states would freeze the assets of additional branches of the group, now operating under an alias.
U.S. and Saudi officials plan to announce their request for international help at a news conference Wednesday. In addition, the official said, his government will "announce new procedures with respect to how charities work abroad."
In 2003, Saudi Arabia ordered Al-Haramain to close all of its overseas branches, but the U. S. Treasury Department said the branches in the four countries continued to operate.
Since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Saudi Arabia has instituted a number of financial controls on charities to curb terrorist financing.
Saudi charities are subject to audits and no longer permitted to send money outside the country. The country has also banned the collection of cash in mosques and public places.
CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report.
