The royal family of Saudi Arabia donated more than $4 billion to the Palestinians between 1998 and 2003 to help finance offensive terrorist operations against Israel, a new report says.
According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington, D.C-based group that monitors Mideast media, the House of Saud’s support has gone to “‘Mujahideen fighters’ and ‘families of martyrs'” killed in operations against the Jewish state.
“For decades the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the main financial supporter of Palestinian groups fighting Israel, through the creation of two major committees,” says the report, which was released July 3.
The committees were identified by MEMRI as the Popular Committee for Assisting Palestinian Mujahideen and The Support Committee for the Al-Quds Intifada, as well as The Al-Aqsa Fund.
Besides the $4 billion already spent, the Saudi government “reportedly pledged Palestinians up to $1 billion to finance the continuation of the Intifada, which is also commonly referred to by Saudi officials as ‘jihad’ and ‘resistance,'” said the well-documented report, authored by MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky.
The ‘Popular’ committee, founded in 1967 following the second Arab-Israeli war, is currently headed by Prince Salman Ibn Abd Al-Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh, Stalinsky said. Its stated goal is to assist “the freedom fighters of Palestine,” and to extend “assistance to members of the families of the martyrs.”
The Al-Quds Intifada and the Al-Aqsa Fund were established in 2000 by “recommendation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” to provide financial aid to “Palestinian martyrs killed during the Intifada,” and “for the purpose of financing projects to help preserve the Arab and Islamic characteristics of Jerusalem, and to enable the Palestinians to liberate themselves,” said the report, which Stalinsky said was “based entirely on official Saudi government sources.”
A report last month in Joseph Farah’s G-2 Bulletin speculated Saudi Arabia’s continued links to Islamic terrorism, coupled with the imminent pull-out of U.S. troops, could endanger the kingdom’s very existence.
The online intelligence newsletter said the royal family’s government was continuing to fund a number of known terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, Hezbollah, and the Egyptian and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups.
Saudi support of terror groups is not only provided for cultural and religious reasons, says the bulletin. It also is motivated by a desire of the kingdom to avoid insurgencies from within.
The groups reportedly funded by Saudi Arabia are all on the U.S. State Department’s list of known terrorist organizations.
The State Department did not respond to phone calls seeking comment before press time.
“Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abd Al-Aziz said that Saudi Arabia would pay one-quarter of the $1 billion capital for the two funds, while King Fahd Ibn Abd Al-Aziz would undertake the support of 1,000 Palestinian families of martyrs,” Stalinsky wrote. “A directive by governors of all regions in Saudi Arabia to initiate campaigns for every citizen to donate to the Al-Quds Intifada Fund was also implemented.”
Stalinsky said funds are transferred to Palestinian accounts via banks in Saudi Arabia.
For its part, the Saudi government says it is doing all it can to assist the U.S. in the fight against terrorism.
On July 3, Saudi officials said the kingdom’s security forces had arrested more than 125 terrorist suspects since May 12.
“This is in addition to the more than 300 arrested since September 11, 2001,” says a statement published on the kingdom’s U.S. embassy website.
“Saudi Arabia is determined to crush the terrorists and is doing everything to ensure the safety and security of its citizens and residents,” said Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the kingdom’s ambassador to the United States.
In February, however, WorldNetDaily reported on Saudi financial links to terrorist groups known to have targeted U.S. interests.
A report prepared for the United Nations said Saudi Arabia transferred $500 million to al-Qaida over the past decade and continues to finance Osama bin Laden’s terror network in the wake of Sept. 11.
Also in February, WorldNetDaily reported the Palestinian Authority declared the United States the chief enemy of the Palestinians and the Islamic and Arab nations.
“America is the first-degree enemy of the Palestinian people and the Islamic and Arab nations. Yes, America is the foremost enemy of this people. America is the foremost enemy of the Muslim nation, because it has started a war against this Arab, Islamic people,” referring to the then-pending war with Iraq, said an interpretation of a sermon by religious leader Ibrahim Madiras, broadcast on PA television.
The sermon was interpreted by an Israel-based watchdog group, Palestinian Media Watch.
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WND Staff