December 4, 2002	Wednesday	Ramazan 28,1423

WASHINGTON, Dec 3: Saudi Arabia is planning to crack down on charitable organizations that may be used to funnel money to extremist groups, The Washington Post said on Tuesday.

Under pressure from the United States to act more forcefully to freeze terrorist funds and to do more in the “war on terrorism”, the Saudis will release a report outlining specific measures for tighter controls over charitable organizations, the newspaper said.

The Post said that, among the reforms, the Saudi government will order charities to establish mechanisms for financial control and audits; impose rules and regulations for charities, and create an agency to oversee their operations; and establish strict new rules for sending money outside the country.

The newspaper also said the Saudis would detail the number of bank accounts and amount of money potentially tied to terrorists that the Saudi government had frozen since last year.— Reuters