Saudi Arabia to sign international anti-terrorism accord

Saudi Arabia will sign a UN anti–terrorism convention aimed at blocking the financial lifelines of global terrorist organizations.

The decision to ink the accord, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1999, came in Monday's weekly Cabinet meeting chaired by King Fahd, local newspapers said.

The Cabinet authorized the foreign minister, Prince Saud al–Faisal, to sign the agreement for "the suppression and prevention of finances to terrorism," the papers said, without indicating when that would happen.

The decision also was reported by the official Saudi news agency, amounting to government confirmation.

U.S. pressure on Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. regional ally, to cooperate in combatting terrorism has increased since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

Although Saudi Arabia has condemned the attacks, the kingdom has not acknowledged whether any Saudis were involved, despite FBI assertions at least half the 19 suspected hijackers were Saudis.

U.S. officials have insisted that Saudi Arabia has been supportive, but some privately complained about a lack of cooperation from a country the United States defended during the 1991 Gulf War.