U.S.

Slowly, Saudis Show Support

By Albert Flores

October 31, 2001 / 4:01 PM EST / CBS

The U.S. policy of handling Saudi relations with kid gloves seems to be paying off as the cautious Middle East ally moved toward greater support of the U.S. effort against terrorism in both rhetoric and action.

The Saudi government has issued an order to freeze assets in that country of individuals and groups suspected of links to terrorism, cooperating with the U.S. campaign to disrupt terrorist financing, a Bush administration official said Wednesday.

President Bush issued a sweeping order on Sept. 24 to block terrorist assets.

Also Wednesday, a Saudi official answered reports of civilian casualties by placing the blame with Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz said it's unacceptable that "the Afghan people and Muslim interests should be victimized for the sake of individuals."

The U.S. government is in a delicate situation in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, a longstanding ally that seems sometimes to be reluctant to be a full partner in the U.S.-organized anti-terror coalition.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was pleased with the Saudi order. "Everything they have asked us to do they have done," he said at the State Department.

If the United States needs more from the Saudis it will ask, Powell said.

Saudi Arabia "has cooperated" with the U.S. financial action against terrorism and has issued an order to block the assets, Jimmy Gurule, the Treasury undersecretary for enforcement, told reporters.

Asked whether the Saudi government had actually blocked assets, Gurule replied, "I think what's most important is cooperation." In some cases, it may be more desirable to keep bank accounts open and monitor them as part of an investigation, he said.

Treasury officials say 152 countries have pledged cooperation with the U.S. effort. Of those, 81 have issued asset-blocking orders, including Saudi Arabia.

An official said Wednesday that the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which Saudi Arabia is a member, had said in mid-October that its member nations were issuing blocking orders.

The revelation about Saudi Arabia came as a 29-nation anti-money-laundering group, which had met in a two-day emergency session in Washington, announced it had adopted measures to disrupt terrorists' financing. The measures include imposing anti-money-laundering requirements on non-bank financial systems such as the informal "hawala" system believed to be used by bin Laden's network to move money.

The actions by the task force, part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, "could potentially save thousands of lives," Gurule said. He said they show "the kind of cooperation and international teamwork necessary to shut down those who perpetrate acts of terror against us and other law-abiding nations."

On the Military front, Saudi Arabia has said it supports the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, but it has refused to allow its bases to be used as staging grounds fo the attacks.

Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed reiterated official Saudi concern that civilians are being killed in the four-week-old bombardment.

But he laid the blame on bin Laden, a Saudi exile, for bringing the U.S. assault. "The current situation of Osama bin Laden and his group and what they have shown of their positions has made them culpable to a large extent, approaching 100 percent, and prompted the United States to take these measures to fight terrorism," he said