Saudis may help freeze assets of terror groups

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 12, 2001

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Thursday that Saudi Arabia is acting to freeze assets of the al-Qaida terrorism network and is cooperating fully with the United States in countering terrorism.

Only a handful of countries have followed the U.S. lead and frozen the network's assets, and Saudi Arabia is among those that haven't, the Associated Press reported, quoting an unnamed senior administration official. The Saudis are moving toward a freeze, however, and are making good progress, the official said.

President Bush announced after a Cabinet meeting Thursday that the United States had frozen $40-million in assets of the al-Qaida network and leader Osama bin Laden. Aides quickly corrected the figure to $24-million.

The administration's public praise of the Saudis followed a report in the New York Times that the Arab kingdom so far had refused to freeze the assets of bin Laden and his associates and had proved unwilling to cooperate fully with the investigation of the hijacking suspects in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"We're very satisfied with Saudi cooperation," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "They've been with us in many areas of this coalition and many of the steps that need to be taken."

Meanwhile, a Saudi foreign ministry official said his government, out of concern about inflaming tensions at home, has asked British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to include the kingdom on his tour of the Middle East to build support for U.S.-British attacks on Afghanistan.

In London, British officials said Blair had spoken by phone with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah but could not meet him because of scheduling conflicts.

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