October 29, 2001	Monday	Shaba'an 11, 1422

ABU DHABI, Oct 28: The governor of the United Arab Emirates central bank said on Sunday US banks would be as much to blame as those in his own country if money transferred from the Gulf state ended up financing the September 11 terror attacks.

“A part of the money came from the UAE, but it also went through the US,” Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi told a gathering at the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-Up, an Abu Dhabi think tank.

“Therefore financial institutions in the US should also be condemned for the same lapse. No one should be blamed, because no one anticipated that these people (recipients) would use (the money) for bombings,” he said.

Suwaidi had admitted on Wednesday that about 100,000 dollars transferred from the UAE to Florida could be linked to the September 11 suicide hijackers.

He told a news conference that the money went from an exchange house in the emirate of Sharjah to a bank in Florida, but did not disclose the name of the exchange house or the exact amount involved.

“There were some transfers of money last year and this year,” he said, and when pressed for details added there had been four transactions over six months last year and this year.—AFP