Washington: The US and six Gulf countries have joined hands to curb financing of dreaded terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Haqqani network and Taliban.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed by the US and six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on the sidelines of the historic visit of President Donald Trump, US department of treasury said.
The six countries along with the US are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
With this, the US and six GCC countries “are confronting new and evolving terrorist networks including ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hizballah, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Taliban, and the Haqqani Network,” the department of treasury said after the agreement was signed to establish Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC).
This collaboration will also address a host of other transnational thr-eats emanating throughout the Middle East, including from Iran, the Assad regime, and the situation in Yemen, it said.
“This new Terrorist Financing Targeting Center will enhance existing tools and cooperation with partners in the Gulf to forcefully address evolving threats,” treasury secretary Steven T Mnuchin said.
“Treasury will offer the vast expertise of our Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to this creative new effort. We will co-chair the TFTC with Saudi Arabia, and will work collaboratively with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council to counter these global terror networks,” he said. Gulf countries are a major source of funding major terrorist organisations across the globe.
