Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has vowed that the State will continue to be vigilant in pursuit of these evil men until every one of them is caught. Saudi Arabian authorities have achieved considerable success in this fight.
Since September 11, 2001, the Saudi Arabian security authorities have questioned more than 1,500 individuals, arrested hundreds of suspects, and succeeded in extraditing dozens of Al-Qaeda members from other countries to face justice in the Kingdom.
In June 2004 security forces eliminated Abdulazeez Almugrin, the top Al-Qaeda terrorist leader operating in Saudi Arabia, as well as three of his closest aides.
In July 2004 there was a significant increase in the number of terrorists captured or killed by Saudi Arabian security forces. A further six militants surrendered to security authorities including Fayez bin Rasheed bin Mohammad Al-Khashman Al-Dossary, who was high on the list of wanted suspects.
A list of wanted terrorists and suspects still at large was drawn up by Saudi Arabian security forces in December 2003. By the end of July 2004 security forces reported that more than 50 per cent of these terrorists and suspects had either been captured or killed.
Following accusations that some terrorist groups could have been knowingly or unknowingly funded from within the Kingdom, new laws have been enacted and rigorously enforced in order to cut off any suspected or potential funding of unknown individuals or groups and anyone suspected of having links to terrorist organisations.
Financial actions taken include: the freezing of suspect bank accounts; implementation of new systems and organisations to detect and prosecute those involved or linked to terrorist financing; new measures to trace and freeze terrorist assets and the setting up of a new body to control and regulate the activities of charitable organisations including the scrutiny of all donations. Every Riyal donated must now be fully accounted for.
The FATF report concluded:
1 That the laws of Saudi Arabia met international standards
2 That the Saudi Arabian legal structure regarding international cooperation was sound
3 That measures applied by the Saudi Arabian government to control and scrutinise funds
were in line with best international practice.
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States, an independent and bipartisan commission set up by the US government in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, in their final report, dated July 2004, said that there is no evidence of Saudi government funding of Al-Qaeda. It says: “We found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior officials within the Saudi government funded al Qaeda.”
