The Treasury Department, meanwhile, recently added three Saudi nationals to its lengthy list of foreigners alleged to be financing terrorism or other crimes.

Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi, Muhammad Abdallah Salih Sughayr and Fahd Muhammad Abd Al-Aziz Al-Khashiban made the list for providing support to the Abu Sayyaf Group, which Treasury says in an al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group responsible for multiple bombings, kidnappings and other terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia.

"These three terrorist financiers were instrumental in raising money to fund terrorism outside of Saudi Arabia," Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. "In order to deter other would-be donors, it is important to hold these terrorists publicly accountable."

To read the CRS report, however, is to wonder who is being held accountable in Saudi Arabia.

"To date, U.S. officials have continued to express their disappointment with Saudi enforcement measures, particularly with a lack of public prosecutions for individuals accused of financing terrorism outside of the kingdom," say Christopher Blanchard and Alfred Prados, authors of the CRS report.

The two cite claims that Saudi Arabia did little to interfere with al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., and only began to get serious about countering Saudi-based funding of al Qaeda after the group bombed targets in Riyadh in May 2003.

But their steps have been more preparatory than active.

For example, Blanchard and Prados cite a 2004 Financial Times article that said Saudi reforms intended to control locally-based charities - some of which have funded terrorist groups - "probably go further than any country in the world."

But the report questions the effectiveness of these and other initiatives, noting some have not even been implemented.

As recently as August, lawmakers concluded that Saudi Arabia has an uneven record in the fight against terrorism, "especially with respect to terrorist financing," and directed the Bush administration to report back by early February with a long-term strategy on how the U.S. will work with Saudi Arabia to combat terrorism, "including through effective measures to prevent and prohibit the financing of terrorists by Saudi institutions and citizens."

For its part, congressmen should support the Bush administration's efforts to encourage Saudi Arabia to implement its new laws and regulations, the authors say, and members should also consider holding hearings on the terrorist financing threats.

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