Saudi, Gulf States Fund Sale of Children Trained as Terrorists & Suicide Bombers

Saudi Arabia - Donors in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are estimated to have been sending up to $100 million annually to radical Islamic schools in Pakistan that back extremist groups, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable. The cable alleged that financial aid for a “sophisticated jihadi recruitment network” was coming from “missionary” and “Islamic charitable” organisations in the Gulf, ostensibly with the direct support of the Saudi and UAE governments. The 2008 cable, purportedly sent by an officer at the US consulate in Lahore, was obtained by WikiLeaks and published by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper on Sunday. Asked to respond to the report, a Saudi foreign ministry spokesman, Osama Nugali, said: “Saudi Arabia issued a statement from day one that we are not going to comment on any WikiLeaks reports because Saudi Arabia is not responsible for these reports and we are not sure about their authenticity.” Saudi Arabia, the US and Pakistan heavily supported the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. Armed groups subsequently mushroomed in the region, and extremists moved to Pakistan’s northwest tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. Since then there has been a growing link between groups there and in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, where the recruitment network is alleged to have existed. In recent years, extremist groups have been carrying out suicide bombings seemingly at will in Pakistan, despite military offensives against their strongholds. The cable described how “families with multiple children” and “severe financial difficulties” were being exploited for recruitment purposes, Dawn reported. Full Story>>