The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has subpoenaed bank account records belonging to the Saudi embassy as part of an investigation into the Kingdom’s $300 million annual US spending budget.
This first time direct probe of Saudi Government funds aims to verify that embassy money has not been funneled to Islamic extremists, reported Washington Post.
According to US officials, the investigation focuses on the financial activities of the Islamic and cultural affairs office of the embassy as well as the activities of Saudi consulates across the US.
In full cooperation, the Saudi Government turned over embassy spending records for the past 20 years. Calling the probe unnecessary, Saudi officials asserted that most of the embassy’s spending was directed to scholarships for Saudi students and subsidized medical treatment for Saudi citizens.
In what appeared to be a joint effort to combat violence, Senior FBI officials and Internal Revenue Service agents headed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this past August to launch a joint task force stationed in the Kingdom to target individuals suspected of funding terrorism.
The task force’s first assignment was to examine documents that Saudi officials seized in the aftermath of the May suicide attacks in Riyadh that killed 34 people. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
