[osint] Arabs launch money laundering, terror financing watchdog

[R.A. Hettinga]

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To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft at community-research.com>
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From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft at community-research.com>
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Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 08:00:49 -0500
Subject: [osint] Arabs launch money laundering, terror financing watchdog
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_1-12-2004_pg4_1

Arabs launch money laundering, terror financing watchdog

* US hails Middle East-North Africa Financial Action Task Force

MANAMA: Arab states agreed on Tuesday to work together to try to keep money
out of the hands of terrorists.

Tuesday's creation of the 14-member Middle East-North Africa Financial
Action Task Force was hailed by the US Treasury Department official
responsible for fighting terrorist financing, Juan Carlos Zarate, who
attended the inaugural meeting in Bahrain.

The task force was "a testament to the fact that Gulf countries and
countries in the region have taken very seriously ... the threat of
terrorist financing," Zarate told reporters. "I think we need to do more.
There are still those who are providing support to Al Qaeda and to
like-minded terrorist groups ... who want to hide money in the international
financial system."

The task force is the first of its kind in the region, which has come under
increased scrutiny following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the
United States. The United Arab Emirates, which joined the new task force and
is known for its freewheeling financial sector, has been identified by US
investigators as a major money transfer center for Al Qaeda, the terror
network responsible for Sept. 11.

The Emirates has tightened reporting and other regulations since September
11. Bahrain earlier this year signed the 1999 UN international convention
for the suppression of financing of terrorism. Saudi Arabia has cracked down
on charities suspected of funneling money to terrorists.

Emirates Central Bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi told reporters
at the Bahrain meeting that now countries in the region must ensure their
words are translated into action.

"We need to strengthen our regulations and enforce the right laws and
regulations," al-Suwaidi said. The watchdog bringing together Bahrain, Saudi
Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, Tunisia, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco,
Egypt, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen will be a regional version
of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force. The 33-member FATF was set
up in 1987 to monitor and fight money laundering, and in 2001 expanded its
role to combatting the financing of terror.

Iraqi officials attended the Bahrain meeting as observers, as did officials
from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United States, Britain and
France.

Bahraini Finance Minister Abdulla Saif said the task force showed officials
in his region were serious about ensuring their banking and financial
systems were transparent and could not be exploited by criminals.

Bahrain was to host the task force, which was to be headed initially by a
Lebanese president, an Egyptian vice president and a Saudi executive
director, according to the founding documents delegates signed Tuesday.

The presidency and vice-presidency will rotate annually among the member
countries. ap



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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
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"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'