Washington and Riyadh are to establish a joint task force to combat terrorist financing coming from the kingdom, officials from both countries announced on 25 August. The move follows ongoing criticism of Riyadh since the 11 September terrorist attacks for failing to do more to prevent funds being channelled to Islamist militants. More immediately, the establishment of the team comes hard on the heels of the suppression of a US congressional report on terrorism financing which was widely leaked to point the finger at high-level Saudi officials (MEED 31:7:03). The task force, which will involve FBI investigators working in the kingdom, will examine information from bank accounts, computer records and other sources of financial information to stem the flow of funds. Riyadh has been very public in its campaign against home-grown terrorism since the 12 May suicide bombings in the capital, which killed more than 30 people. 'I don't think there is a more immediate way to test the joint resolve of our countries than to have a joint investigative unit, with the linguistic and computer resources of both our countries, that is capable of focussing on specific targets, rather than talking in generalities,' said a US Treasury Department spokesman. 'We now have a testable proposition of people's resolve.' In the wake of the congressional report's publication, the Saudi government also agreed to allow FBI investigators to travel to the kingdom to question Saudi national, Omar al-Bayoumi, who was accused of having helped two of the 11 September hijackers to settle in the US.