Saudi Arabia remains the world's leading source of money for al-Qaida and other extremist networks, the Bush administration's top financial counter-terrorism official says, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
Stuart A. Levey, a U.S. Treasury Department undersecretary, told a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday on that the Saudi government hasn't taken important steps to go after those who finance terrorist organizations or to prevent wealthy donors from bankrolling extremism through charitable contributions, sometimes unwittingly, the L.A. Times reported.
U.S. officials have previously identified Saudi Arabia as a major source of funding for extremism. But Levey's comments were notable because, although reluctant to directly criticize a close U.S. ally, he acknowledged frustration with administration efforts to persuade the Saudis and others to act, the newspaper said.
Nail Jubeir, press attache for the Saudi embassy in Washington, dismissed those concerns, saying the Bush administration has repeatedly praised Saudi Arabia for its efforts to combat terrorism, the L.A. Times reported.
U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the committee chairman, announced at the end of the hearing an independent review of the efforts to choke off financing used by al-Qaida and other extremist groups.