A Saudi crackdown on cash donations to charities aimed at blocking the flow of money to terrorists has had one immediate effect: angering Muslim groups that help the poor, including one that expects contributions to drop by one-third.
The disappearance of once-ubiquitous boxes at mosques and malls where Saudis could drop cash gifts to Islamic charities is the most public result of U.S. pressure on the kingdom to find ways to keep al-Qaida and other terrorist networks from siphoning off donations.
Saudi Arabia also has banned all private relief and charity groups from sending money overseas until regulations are in place to make sure the money is not going toward terrorist groups. And the government established a unit to monitor Saudi charities suspected of sponsoring terrorist groups.
Interior Minister Prince Nayef has said terror groups may have been raising funds through charities, but the moves to crack down have upset Saudi citizens.
That's because the cash boxes were an easy, anonymous way for Saudis to meet one of the basic requirements of their religion: giving to the poor. Zakat, or almsgiving, is portrayed as a form of prayer — and what is seen as American meddling in a tenet of the faith angered some Saudis.
"Where I give it and to whom is my business," said Abdullah ba Abdullah, a 24-year-old Saudi on his way to perform a pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca.
"Zakat is one of the pillars of Muslim faith and I cannot stop giving zakat at any cost. If I do so then I lose my right to be called a Muslim," ba Abdullah said.
Sheik Salman al-Omari, who supervises the Riyadh branch of a charity that cares for orphans and the poor and provides Quranic and Arabic instruction, said he saw "a conspiracy that aims to constrict our activities and ultimately reduce donations we give to needy Muslims and the poor in the world."
Al-Omari said he expected his group's income to drop by 35 percent because of the lack of cash boxes. Charities also collect donations in checks or raise it through property rentals and even on the stock market, but cash donations had been key for many.
The removal of cash boxes "is in line with America's anti-Islam strategy," al-Omari charged.
The United States maintains its campaign is against extremist violence, not against Islam.
U.S. officials say that without proper oversight donations could find their way to al-Qaida or to charities linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which reportedly receives $14 million a year from Saudis. Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist organization is blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States as well as a series of suicide bombings in the Saudi capital in May.
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow met Wednesday with Crown Prince Abdullah and other Saudi officials and praised them for halting the flow of money to terrorists, citing the oversight of charities but offering no further details.
"I've got an absolute sense (from the Saudis) that there are no holds barred in going after the money and the terrorists," Snow told reporters, calling the Saudis "a strong partner." "It is clear that real progress has been made and significant progress has been made."
An official in the Saudi Ministry of Work and Social Affairs declined this week to comment on the Saudi government's decision to remove the boxes.
Saudi police began removing the cash boxes from mosques and malls after the May attacks that killed 35 people, including nine suicide bombers, in Riyadh. In anti-terror raids following the bombings, Saudi police found cash boxes similar to those used by charities in militants' hideouts, raising the possibility the extremists had used them to collect money under false pretenses.
The Saudi ban on sending private relief and charity money overseas came in June.
It's unclear what effect, if any, the cash cut-off will have on terrorist funding.
A Western diplomat said zakat, which Islamic scholars citing the teachings of the prophet Muhammad recommend amount to 2.5 percent of annual savings, will be hard to police. Saudi Arabia has no income tax, the diplomat noted. Americans can deduct their charitable donations from their income tax, which also lets the government track who's giving, how much and where.
Saudis, however, aren't used to being asked about their earning and spending.
"The absence of these sort of records is a problem," Snow said. "But there is a real commitment to deal with this problem. That's the most important thing."
Some Americans in Congress and elsewhere have accused Saudi Arabia of failing to cooperate in the war on terror. The Saudi government has strongly denied the charges, saying it is determined to fight terrorism because it as much a victim as the United States.
The May attacks sparked introspection in Saudi Arabia. Among some, that has extended to decisions about how they give.
Mohamed Abdullah, a 33-year-old businessman, said he was cutting back on donations to organized charities and instead directing his zakat to poorer members of his family. Others interviewed this week spoke of looking to the needy in their own neighborhoods instead of donating to Saudi charities that work in Afghanistan, Chechnya, the Palestinian areas and elsewhere.
"It's our duty to see that the money goes to the right people who are really in desperate circumstances," Abdullah said.