“In a certain sense, the West has become part of the global jihad, to spread jihad around the world.” No kidding. From WND:
U.S. officials say Saudi Arabia has eliminated al-Qaida leadership at home but continues to fund the terrorist network abroad, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service.
Officials said Saudi Arabia has captured or killed many al-Qaida leaders over the last three months. Saudi security forces, with support from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement, raided al-Qaida strongholds in Buraida, Mecca, Jeddah and Riyadh, they said.
“Saudi Arabia is working hard to shut down the facilitators and financial supporters of terrorism, and they have captured or killed many first-tier leaders of the al-Qaida organization in Saudi Arabia,” the White House said in a Sept. 11 statement. “Today, because Saudi Arabia has seen the danger and joined the war on terror, the American people are safer.”…
But U.S. officials said Saudi Arabia has failed to stop financing to al-Qaida. Despite U.S. appeals, Saudi charities continue to relay funds to al-Qaida abroad, particularly in financing Arab operatives in Africa and Chechnya.
In September, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the U.S. and Comoros branches of the Al Haramain Foundation, a state-sponsored Saudi charity, as financiers of terrorism. The department also designated a director of Al Haramain in the United States, Suliman Al Buthe, as a financier and facilitator of terrorism.
So far, more than a dozen branches of Al Haramain have been listed as facilitators of terrorism. These include the former director of the foundation, Aqeel Abdul Aziz Al Aqil. Al Haramain has dismissed the U.S. designations.
Officials said the latest designation came after more than two years of cooperation between U.S. and Saudi officials investigating Al Haramain’s financial activities. The FBI and other federal agencies have also investigated Al Haramain branches in the United States.
“The investigation shows direct links between the U.S. branch and Osama Bin Laden,” the Treasury Department said. “In addition, the affidavit alleges the U.S. branch of AHF criminally violated tax laws and engaged in other money-laundering offenses.”…
“The Saudis have been jolted by the al-Qaida threat,” said Dore Gold, a senior Israeli government consultant and president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. “At the same time, they are ideologically committed to supporting jihad externally.”…
Yehudit Barsky, an analyst with the American Jewish Committee, cited U.S. reports that Riyadh has pumped $70 billion in the propagation of Wahabi ideology around the world since the 1970s. Barsky said the Saudi goal was to bolster radical Muslims in their effort to turn the West into part of the Islamic world.
“In a certain sense, the West has become part of the global jihad, to spread jihad around the world,” she said.