Geostrategy-Direct
Week of April 13, 2004
FOCUS ON TERRORISM
Gulf conference tackles terror financing
ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates hosted a conference to regulate hawala.
Hawala, the use of moneychangers to transfer funds without leaving any
official record, was believed to have been the chief method Islamic
insurgency groups used to relay money to operatives.
The conference was held in Abu Dhabi April 3-5. More than 400 delegates from
60 countries, including Gulf Cooperation Council and Western states,
attended. Those attending came from law enforcement agencies, the
International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Financial Action Task
Force.
Called the International Conference on Hawala, the gathering examined the
institution of hawala and how to regulate it.
UAE officials said the conference would usher in a new regulatory system on
hawala. A government announcement did not elaborate.
"A regulatory framework is expected to be in place by the end of the
meeting," the Central Bank said in a statement on April 1.
GCC states have dismissed demands to eliminate hawala, saying the
institution was deeply rooted and more efficient than banks. In 2002, the
UAE, regarded as a leading venue for hawala, asked hawala operators to
register with the Central Bank in an effort to regulate the industry. The
effort was unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Arab League states have been removed from a list of nations that
fail to cooperate in the international effort to halt financing to Al Qaida
and related groups.
Egypt was the last Arab state to have been removed from the list of
Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories. On Feb. 27, Egypt was removed
from the list after Cairo launched a series of measures to combat money
laundering that facilitated the funding to groups deemed as terrorists.
Currently, there are no Arab League states on the NCCT list. Western
diplomatic sources said Arab states responded to what they termed intense
pressure from the United States and the international financial community.
"There is no Arab country now on the list," said Ali Bolbol, a senior
economist at the Economic Policy Institute of the Arab Monetary Fund.
"Some Arab countries were on the list but now all of them were taken off.
The international pressure is paying off. Arab countries have put in place
procedures and laws to fight money laundering and terrorist financing."
Bolbol was speaking at a recent seminar in Abu Dhabi by the Economic Policy
Institute of the Arab Monetary Fund. The three-day course, designed to help
governments battle money laundering and terrorist financing, was attended by
representatives from 19 Arab countries.
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Brooks Isoldi, editor
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http://www.intellnet.org
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R. A. Hettinga