25 November 2002

Boucher Says Saudis Cooperating Fully with FBI Anti-Terror Investigation, November 25, 2002

(Spokesman praises U.S.-Saudi cooperation in fighting terrorism)

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is pursuing an investigation into allegations of Saudi financing of terrorists and the Saudi government is cooperating fully with the investigation, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at the daily State Department briefing in Washington November 25.

In the fight against terrorism, Boucher said the Saudis are cooperating closely with the United States in various fields such as law enforcement, finance, intelligence, and military affairs.

The spokesman said the U.S. government thinks more cooperation with the Saudis can be done in terms of strengthening cooperation to prevent misuse and abuse of charity organizations in financing terrorists.

Following is an excerpt from Boucher's briefing with his comments about the Saudi government:
(begin excerpt)

QUESTION: Some of the senators over the weekend, they criticized some of the FBI and some other government agencies of being lenient on the Saudis and there has been talk about that the Saudis have been funding the terrorists -- Princess Haifa. Is the US Government considering these any more requests from the Saudis to cooperate on the war on terrorism and is this a backdoor pressure on Saudi Arabia, for instance, not to allow US troops to use Saudi soil for an attack on Iraq?

MR. BOUCHER: The longer you go, the more assumptions you make that I think I need to knock down. But no. The answer to your question is no.

Now, to get to the facts of the matter, there is an ongoing investigation that is being handled by the FBI. The law enforcement agencies are appropriate for this. They would have to comment on any particular aspects of the investigation.

We, as an administration, have supported that investigation fully. I would note as well that the Saudis are cooperating fully with that investigation.

In terms of the overall picture of things, we, I think, have made clear again and again we believe the Saudi response on matters involving the war on terrorism has been very strong. We have worked together on law enforcement. We have worked together on financial matters. We have worked together on intelligence, military and other aspects of cooperation against terrorism.

On the issue of finance, it is an area of extensive cooperation. We have had a number of interagency teams that have gone out and worked with the Saudis to identify and block suspect accounts. We have worked together on jointly designating some of the supporters of terrorism. We have worked together with the Saudis in the recent listing by the UN Sanctions Committee of Wa'el Julaidan and other organizations like that.

So I think we feel that we have had a lot of cooperation. At the same time, I have to say there is always more to be done. There is much more that we need to do together with the Saudis in finding and stopping the funding sources for international terrorism. I think the Saudis are aware of that and continue to work with us on those things.

QUESTION: On the possible war on Iraq, what is the clear response from Saudi Arabia to the US Government on that?

MR. BOUCHER: I think that is a question you can ask Saudi Arabia, if you want to.

QUESTION: You haven't received anything?

MR. BOUCHER: I am not going to speak for any foreign government here. Thank you.

Andrea?

QUESTION: Richard, you said that there's always more that can be done to fight the war on terrorism or financing terrorism, but are you satisfied that the Saudi Government is doing everything it can to try to prevent the inadvertent or the deliberate funding of terrorists?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we have seen the Saudi Government do a lot. We have had a very strong response. I think we are satisfied with the cooperation we have gotten so far. But by saying more needs to be done, that means we have not done everything we can. We want to work more with the Saudis on -- and are working more with the Saudis on -- issues like preventing the misuse or abuse of charity organizations. We have been regularly consulting with our Saudi counterparts on issues like that. We have had, I think, in the last couple of months, visits to Riyadh by Under Secretary Larson, visits by our former -- now former -- Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Frank Taylor, and Assistant Secretary Burns. So we have active and ongoing cooperation with the Saudis to look at other areas where we can push forward with these efforts.

QUESTION: Richard, would you agree that since 9/11 the administration has become more concerned about certain Saudi behavior, which -- whether you want to attribute it to one of the pillars of Islam or whatever -- but is specifically the, you know, the giving of alms.

MR. BOUCHER: No, I do not think one can go broadly to the giving of alms as a religious practice and to somehow attribute that to support for terrorism. There are a lot of charitable institutions around the world that operate quite successfully and quite properly in terms of helping poor people that have nothing to do with terrorism.

The goal that we all have is to make sure that people who sincerely want to give alms, who want to give to charity -- whether it is in a Muslim context, Christian context, or any other context -- that their money actually goes to the people they are trying to help and that it does not get misused or abused.

So one of the ongoing efforts that we have had working together with people like the Saudis is to look at these organizations, look how they are monitored, look how they operate, to try to make sure that we have systems in place so that people who do genuinely and generously give to charity know that their money is properly used.

QUESTION: Can you tell us, have there been any contacts between, you know, high-level contacts either with Secretary Powell or others in recent days since these reports came out with the Saudi Government?

MR. BOUCHER: I do not know specifically if anybody has had any telephone calls. We talk to the Saudi Government all the time about any number of matters so I would imagine so, yes. I am sure we have had contacts with the Saudi Government. But I do want to say the investigation on this matter is being handled by the FBI and our understanding is the Saudis are cooperating fully.

(end excerpt)