Saudis said financing Qaeda

Saudi Arabia is the key source of funding for radical Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas, according to US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks on Sunday.

Other Gulf states are also important to militant fundraising, the documents say, which brand Gulf states Qatar and Kuwait as notably lax in pursuing locals who donate to the groups.

And Saudi Arabia is particularly challenged by policing money transfers during the hajj and umrah pilgrimages, with militants sending agents into the oil-rich kingdom under the cover of pious Muslim pilgrims, they say.

"Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide,'' said the document, an assessment from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dated December 30, 2009.

"Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba), and other terrorist groups, including Hamas, which probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during Hajj and Ramadan,'' the cable said.

There was no accusation of official Saudi government support of militants.

The memo credited the Saudis with "significant progress'' under US pressure to deal with the issue, especially disrupting Al-Qaeda's finance channels.

However, it added, "Riyadh has taken only limited action'' to interrupt the flow of money to Taliban and LeT-associated groups which have launched attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.