Saudis, UAE Funding Pakistani Jihad Schools With $100 Million Annually
But Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are allies, right?
A document released by WikiLeaks shows that the principal officer of the U.S. consulate in Lahore in November 2008 said that $100 million was making its way to Pakistani madrasses in Punjab Province from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates every year. It is inconceivable that the Arab governments do not know about this massive transfer of wealth.
And what goes on in these “religious schools,” you ask?
“At these madrassas, children are denied contact with the outside world and taught sectarian extremism, hatred for non-Muslims, and anti-Western/anti-Pakistan government philosophy,” said the cable.
It described how “families with multiple children” and “severe financial difficulties” were being exploited and recruited, Dawn reported.
“The path following recruitment depends upon the age of the child involved. Younger children (between 8 and 12) seem to be favored,” said the cable.
Teachers in seminaries would assess the inclination of children “to engage in violence and acceptance of jihadi culture.”
The most impressive students that are “chosen for jihad” then go on to bigger and better things. As The Dawn reports:
“youths were generally sent on to more established training camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and then on to jihad either in FATA, NWFP, or as suicide bombers in settled areas.”
This isn’t the only cable exposing the Saudis. Another one written by Secretary of State Clinton said:
“it has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority…Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide” — running into millions of dollars.”
