SAUDI ARABIA - Nov. 26 - Riyadh Balks US Requests To Freeze Bank Accounts Linked To Terrorism.

A senior Saudi official says US requests for the freezing of bank accounts of those linked to terrorism have not been substantiated with proof that the individuals and businesses named by Washington have any such link. He adds: "This is the problem between us and the Americans. When they ask us to do something, we say, give us the evidence. We cannot move without evidence, and no one has given us the evidence. That's when they accuse us of helping the terrorists". (His comments come before the planned visit by US officials which is to begin later this week but may have to be put off until Jan. 2002 due to scheduling conflicts related to Ramadan). He says the planned visit by the US delegation will be "almost exclusively" focused on the financial side of the war on terrorism. In an interview last week, FM Prince Saud Al Faisal defended what he called the kingdom's cautious, go-slow approach towards answering the US requests, particularly when they touched on Islamic charities alleged to have channelled money to terrorist organisations. Prince Saud said: "I don't think the intent was to make a list that would be frozen without proof. We have urged on everybody concerned that when you're talking about financial assets and banks and organisations that are dealing with humanitarian affairs, one must be careful not to do damage to institutions unjustly". (Among the Saudis named on Treasury Department lists of those said to have channelled millions of dollars to terrorist organisations is Yassin Abdullah Qadi, a prominent Saudi businessman who the State Department said had raised money from some of the most prominent families through the Muwafaq Foundation, which was not on the list. The department described the foundation as a front for Al Qaida, but Qadi rejected the accusation as absurd and has filed suit in a British court to challenge the freezing of his assets in Britain).