US, Saudi Arabia jointly sanction terrorist funding group

The US and Saudi Arabia are taking joint action against a terrorist funding organization that the Treasury Department says is masquerading as a charity.

Treasury announced today that the two nations teamed up to disrupt the financing and operations of Al-Furqan (al FUR-khan) Welfare Trust. The trust is suspected of funding al-Qaida, the Taliban and other extremist militant networks, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Treasury says the trust was formed when two groups, which were already targeted, merged and took on a new name in order to evade sanctions and keep financing terrorism.

The joint action freezes any assets the trust has under US or Saudi jurisdiction and prohibits Americans and citizens of Saudi Arabia from doing business with it.