U.S. freezes "al-Qaeda linked" assets
Swissinfo ^ | December 21 2004 | Caroline Drees/Reuters
 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has frozen the assets of two Saudi nationals for allegedly providing support to al Qaeda, and asked the United Nations to take similar action.

The U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday it had listed the two men -- London-based dissident Saad al-Fagih and Adel Batterjee, another Saudi national -- as "specially designated global terrorists" for providing financial and material support to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden.

"The U.S. is submitting both names to the United Nations (Security Council) 1267 Committee, which will consider adding them to the consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaeda, OBL (Osama bin Laden) and the Taliban," it said in a statement. It added that the two men were not linked to each other.

Fagih, who lives in Britain, is a leading Saudi dissident and heads the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, which says it seeks to topple the monarchy by peaceful means.

His group has recently called for demonstrations in the conservative kingdom, but the protests failed to materialise after blanket security precautions.

Saudi officials accuse Fagih of exploiting social and economic discontent to further a radical Islamic cause, hiding his agenda behind calls for rights and greater accountability.

Fagih told Reuters in London he did not have any assets in the United States, and denied any link to al Qaeda or terrorism.

"I have had no contact or relationship with al Qaeda ... and I challenge any authority to show any real substantive relationship with al Qaeda," Fagih said.

"We are known for our peaceful policies and we are committed to avoiding any violence or incitement to violence," he added.

"Due to the pressure we have caused (by the demonstrations) and the danger we have caused for the Saudi regime, it is in the interest of the current U.S. administration to save or rescue the royal family."

ASSOCIATIONS WITH AL QAEDA

The Treasury statement said Fagih had maintained associations with al Qaeda since the mid-1990s, including an individual linked to the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. It accused Fagih of contact with bin Laden and Khaled al-Fawwaz, whom it called bin Laden's de facto representative in Britain.

Asked about his relationship with Fawwaz, Fagih said: "Fawwaz has been in jail since 1998. He was in London and we are from the same tribe and the same family, so we knew each other as citizens, no more than that".

The U.S. Treasury said Batterjee, who lives in Saudi Arabia, had ranked as "one of the world's foremost terrorist financiers, who employed his private wealth and a network of charitable fronts to bankroll the murderous agenda of al-Qaeda".

The United Nations' 1267 committee reports on al Qaeda and remnants of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban rulers. It was established in 1999 under resolution 1267 and strengthened after the September 11, 2003 attacks against the United States.

The committee has compiled a list of individuals and organisations for which all 191 U.N. member nations are obliged to freeze assets, block travel and prevent the sale of arms and military equipment.