SAUDIS HELP AL QAIDA REGIME IN SOMALIA

WASHINGTON [MENL] --

 The Bush administration has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia was financing the Al Qaida-aligned regime in Somalia.



Officials said Saudi Arabia has become a leading financier of the Islamic takeover of Somalia. The so-called Islamic Courts Union, headed by an Al Qaida commander wanted by the United States, has garnered most of its foreign support from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

 "I don't want to say the Saudi government is supporting any particular [Islamic] court," Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer said. "But I do know that there is money coming in from Saudi Arabia."

On June 29, Ms. Frazer told the House International Relations Committee that despite U.S. opposition Saudi funding was reaching the Al Qaida-aligned movement in Somalia. She said another U.S. ally, Yemen, has sent weapons to the new Islamic regime in Mogadishu.