US freezes assets of two Saudis for Al Qaeda links

WASHINGTON: The United States froze the assets of two Saudi nationals on Tuesday for allegedly providing support to Al Qaeda, and asked the United Nations to take similar action.

The US Treasury said it had listed the two men — London-based dissident Saad al-Fagih and Adel Batterjee, another Saudi national — as “specially designated global terrorists” for providing financial and material support to Al Qaeda and its leader, Osama Bin Laden. . “The US is submitting both names to the United Nations (Security Council) 1267 Committee, which will consider adding them to the consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaeda, OBL (Osama bin Laden) and the Taliban,” it said in a statement. It added that the two men were not linked to each other.

A senior US counterterrorism official, who asked not to be named, said the designation of Batterjee was specially significant. The official said that Saudi Arabia had indicated it would back the United States at the United Nations and that it will cooperate in freezing Batterjee’s assets. The US official said that Batterjee was believed to be living in Saudi Arabia.

Fagih, who lives in Britain, is a leading Saudi dissident and heads the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, which says it seeks to topple the monarchy by peaceful means. reuters

Home | National