Post-Hearing Questions for the Record From Senator Daniel Akaka "An Assessment of Current Efforts to Combat Terrorism Financing” June 15, 2004 1. There have been reports in the media that the joint U.S.-Saudi task force has been working. However, it is my understanding that U.S. participants have only requested low level documents to avoid having further requests denied. In your expert opinion, how effective has the joint task force investigated terrorism financing? Answer: Because I am not privy to the work of the joint U.S.-Saudi task force, it is difficult to offer a confident assessment. However, it does not appear that the work of this task force - the formation of which was publicly announced almost a year ago has lead to any terrorist financing-related arrests or prosecutions. I would encourage the committee to seek to confirm that fact and to ascertain whether the joint task force is achieving success by other metrics. 2. Appendix C of the Council's report states that “Saudi compliance with counterterrorist financing measures is relatively strong." But, Appendix B - the Technical Assessment of Saudi Arabian Law - indicates that the Saudi government has failed to implement their new terrorism financing laws. This Appendix presents a devastating pattern of failure by the Saudis to confront terrorism financing. On a scale of A to F, what overall grade would you give the Saudis? Answer: Appendix C to the Task Force Report analyzes the Saudi response on a comparative basis, principally by analyzing the Saudi response to terrorist financing to that of other nations in the Muslim world. On this comparative basis, it gives the Saudi response relatively high marks. Appendix B to the Report and the Report itself do not use that comparative basis as a benchmark; they seek rather to analyze the Saudi response in relation to international best practices and the broad imperatives of U.S. national security, respectively. Here, there are certain deficiencies, as identified in the text. So on balance, it is difficult to offer a single, overall “grade” to the Saudi response. It depends on the relevant benchmarks. Post-Hearing Questions for the Record Submitted to Mallory Factor "An Assessment of Current Efforts to Combat Terrorism Financing" June 15, 2004 1. Answer: Appendix C of the Council's report states that "Saudi compliance with counter-terrorist financing measures is relatively strong." But, Appendix B - the Technical Assessment of Saudi Arabian law - indicates that the On a scale of A to F, what overall grade would you give the Saudis? If Saudi Arabia is compared to other nations in the Islamic world, as Appendix C Post-Hearing Questions for the Record "An Assessment of Current Efforts to Combat Terrorism Financing" June 15, 2004 Saudi Arabia has yet to comply with the United States' request that the former head of Al How much credibility can we put on Saudi Arabia's recent efforts when it continues to overlook his crimes? Should we take this as a sign of the government's lack of commitment to cracking down on those who finance terrorist activities? Response: 2. As I have said before, much of the Saudi initiatives against terrorist financing have focused upon changing their system on regulation and oversight. Very little has resulted in holding people personally accountable. Failure to proceed against Al-Aqil is, perhaps, the most striking example of the continuing failure to address the issue of personal accountability. They will not succeed in fighting terrorism unless they hold the bankers of terrorism accountable. Appendix C of the Council's report states that "Saudi compliance with counter-terrorist financing measures is relatively strong." But, Appendix B - the Technical Assessment of Saudi Arabian law - indicates that the On a scale of A to F, what overall grade would you give the Saudis? Response: This question is really best addressed to the Council on Foreign Relations. My net assessment is that much of what has been done is form over substance and doesn't make any of us any safer An Update on the Global Campaign Against Terrorist Financing Second Report of an Independent Task Force on Terrorist Financing Sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations Maurice R. Greenberg, Mallory Factor, Vice Chair William F. Wechsler and Lee S. 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