Kuwait's Central Bank has been assigned the task of approving and monitoring any transfer of funds overseas by Islamic charities as part of measures to fight terror funding. "Only five charity organizations are allowed to transfer money abroad, but through the Central Bank," acting undersecretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour Mohammad Al-Kandari told a press conference. All these charities are run by Islamic groups in Kuwait. The new measure has been taken after the ministry "temporarily" stopped all charities from transferring funds abroad in a bid to regulate their operations. Most of the Kuwaiti funds are being distributed under the direct supervision of the country's diplomatic missions abroad, Kandari added. "We intend to make the distribution of funds totally controlled by Kuwaiti embassies. We are working towards this end," he added. Kuwaiti charities send tens of millions of dollars in donations annually to dozens of Muslim countries and Muslim minorities around the world. After the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, the United States accused some Islamic charities in Arab countries of funding terrorism, but they denied the charges saying their donations are spent on humanitarian causes.
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Domestically, Kuwait has cracked down on illegal fund-raising operations, said Nasser Al-Ammar, head of Charity Societies Department. The new measures come less than three weeks after a delegation from the US Treasury Department and a team from the International Monetary Fund discussed with Kuwaiti officials means to stop terrorism funding. Kuwait's main Islamic societies have denied involvement in funding terror groups and have cooperated with government measures to control fund-raising operations. |