Embassy Row

Saudis deny link

A top Saudi official rejected charges by the Pentagon that Saudi Arabia is still funneling money to terrorists in Iraq, according to remarks released by the Saudi Embassy.

“Such an allegation is not only irresponsible but factually incorrect,” said Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah.

In a conference call with Washington reporters, Mr. Al-Jubeir said the Saudi government has tightened its money-laundering laws, prosecuted charities that support terrorism and killed or arrested hundreds of suspects linked to the al Qaeda terrorist network.

A Pentagon official said last week that Saudi money is still financing some terrorist activity in Iraq and that the Saudi government is ignoring the problem. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Iraqi terrorists and insurgents have access to unlimited funds.

Mr. Al-Jubeir said the Saudi government “is determined to go after the terrorists, those who support them and those who condone their actions.”

“Our record is clear,” he said. “We have arrested hundreds of suspects, killed or captured al Qaeda members in the kingdom, broken up terror cells and taken strong measures to ensure that no Saudi funding goes to evildoers.”

Troops in Bosnia

The U.S. ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina says U.S. forces will stay in the country after NATO transfers command of peacekeeping forces to the European Union in December.

Ambassador Douglas McElhaney said the Bosnian government offered the United States continued use of a military base near the town of Tuzla, where U.S. troops are stationed as part of the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR).

“The U.S. has accepted Bosnia’s generous offer of continued use of the Tuzla base after SFOR completes its mission,” Mr. McElhaney said in Sarajevo last week.

The ambassador did not say how many troops will remain in the country or what duties they will perform.

The United States has about 10,000 troops in Bosnia.

Diplomatic traffic

Foreign visitors in Washington this week include:

Tomorrow

• South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong, who participates in a conference on U.S.-Korean free trade, sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and the Korea International Trade Association.

Wednesday

• Catalina Mertz of the Citizens for Peace Foundation of Chile, who discusses school violence in a forum hosted by George Washington University.

• Dr. Lee Jong-wook, director general of the World Health Organization; Dr. Ebrahim Samba, regional director of the WHO’s Africa office; and Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer of Britain’s Department of Health. They participate in a WHO program to increase information about patient safety, hosted by the Pan American Health Organization.

• Jacques Andreani, former French ambassador to the United States; Edouard Brunner, former Swiss ambassador to the United States; Brian Crowe, former director general for external and politico-military affairs in the European Union’s Council of Ministers; Dieter Dettke, executive director of Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation; and Adam Rotfeld, deputy foreign minister of Poland. They discuss the challenges facing the winner of the U.S. presidential election in a forum sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

• Leila Alieva, president of the Center for National and International Studies in Baku, Azerbaijan, who discusses the country’s oil industry in a meeting hosted by the W.P. Carey Forum.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison @washingtontimes.com.