Frustration with the lack of cooperation from Arab and Muslim countries in combating the financing of terrorism continue U.S. show WASHINGTON - known diplomatic cables, extremists almost a decade after stopping the flow of funds was a central part of U.S. counter-terrorism strategy.
While al-Qaeda's ability to raise funds were hampered, and by some accounts at their lowest level since the Sept. 11, 2001, is attacks, fight US officials to crack down on illicit financing of other extremist groups to convince allies like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
This is especially important because some of these other groups such as Lashkar e Tayyiba from Pakistan, are the threats graduate from regional to global terrorism.
The current batch of leaked cable was from the New York Times and the guardian Sunday, a week after the self-describing whistle blower website WikiLeaks began its cache to a diplomatic quarter million U.S. cable publish reports.
U.S. policymakers continue to take aim at the Wikileaks founders Julian Assange over the weekend. Senator Mitch McConnell (R., Kentucky) Mr Assange called a "high-tech terrorist." WikiLeaks, has an additional cache of sensitive U.S. documents prepared for the publication if your website, British Sunday Times reported is closed under virtual fire every week.
The cable relating to the financing of terrorism include dispatches 2007, 2009 and 2010. They show that almost a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, U.S. officials continue pressing countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Pakistan fighting terror to make financing a greater priority.
However, the cable show remarkable progress in just a few years. Sent a cable from 2007 reports that President Bush was "very concerned", and a letter to Saudi King Abdullah.
A dispatch from the beginning of this year highlighted in contrast Saudi Arabia "significant progress in the fight against al-Qaida, the financing from the country date." …Al-Qaeda's ability to raise funds has deteriorated significantly and it is now in its weakest State since 9 / 11.
Said a senior U.S. administration officials, while declining to comment on the leaked cable itself, "the U.S. Government has a high priority for the financing of terrorism and threw the question consistently with all over the world especially in the Gulf region and as a result of these efforts we have considerable financial pressure on al QAI'da." One of the main reasons for this progress is increased prioritize of this issue of Saudi Arabia. In the last 2 years, for example we have seen the Saudi Arabian Government, the suspension of financing terrorist networks, eager to practice of the financing of terrorism and terrorist financiers publicly accountable military targets. "
Still, there are concerns. Saudi Arabia, donors are, for example, in a December 2009 cable from the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as "the most important source of funding Sunni terrorist groups around the world." described.
Qatar terrorism record is described as "the worst in the region" in the same cable. The Gulf nation last week won the right to host the World Cup in 2022.
Kuwait alone among its neighbours have no law against terrorism financing.
Pakistan blocks systematically to reduce efforts by the United States and the United Nations financing of extremist groups.
The cable to illustrate that the fight against terrorist financing by many of the same forces is blocked, who charged it for years.
Islamic charities still an important funding source for extremist ideologies, despite years of talks about regulating charitable in countries such as Saudi Arabia. Mrs. Clinton's 2009 cable three Saudi charities only: International Islamic Relief Organization, the Muslim World League and World Assembly of Muslim youth.
"[T] hese groups continue to send money abroad and at times overseas to fund extremism," says the cable.
If foreign Governments take seriously the threat of Al Qaeda, extremist groups that pose a threat of safety are given no more free space. The cable cverbergen Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for measures against the Taliban and, for example.
A number of activities that many difficult are regulatory measures terrorism to objective funded. Afghanistan and Pakistan Taliban, used for example, drugs smuggling and kidnapping to raise large amounts of money in recent years.
Kidnap ransom millions of dollars per year bring al on Qaeda of North African affiliate. Al Qaeda activists are believed in the Yemen, staged 2009 to a bank robbery, charged $500,000.
Importantly, acts of terrorism are cheap, meaning even small amounts of money to reach the extremists can have impact. According the October air freight plot hatched in Yemen, for example, costs only $4,200, to an article in the English magazine al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula. By some estimates attacks the Sept. 11 cost over $500,000.
During the cables primarily U.S. frustrations with Golf and South Asian countries detail, is pushback against the US-led fight against terrorist financing widespread. A cable details Chancellor Angela Merkel's trouble with colleagues German politicians against measures to track terrorist financing in the European Parliament voted in favour.
A cable from February comments: "The German public and political class largely tends to terrorism abstractly it show, especially since decades, since every successful terrorist attack on German soil occurred."
Write toKeith Johnson in the keith.johnson@wsj.com
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