Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait must stop funding extremists: Hillary

US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton says Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait must stop funding extremists in the region.

An “area that demands attention is preventing radicalization and countering efforts by ISIL (Daesh) and other international terrorist networks to recruit in the United States and Europe, for starters, it is long past time for the Saudis, the Qataris, and the Kuwaitis and others to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations," Clinton said in a national security speech in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday.

"And they should stop supporting radical schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path toward extremism."

The Saudi support, among others, was highlighted in remarks by Senator Chris Murphy who announced on January 29 that thousands of schools in Pakistan are funded by Saudi Arabia to nurture hatred and terrorism among students.

"These schools are multiplying all over the globe,” Murphy said, adding, "those 24,000 religious schools in Pakistan - thousands of them are funded with money that originates in Saudi Arabia."

Clinton’s remarks against Saudi Arabia contradict reports that Riyadh itself is a major funder of her presidential campaign, according to a report by Jordan’s official news agency.

On June 12, the Petra News Agency published what it described as exclusive comments from Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In the report, now deleted from the website, it is mentioned that Saudi Arabia has provided 20 percent of the total funding to Clinton’s campaign.

The website later claimed that it had been hacked and that the item on the Saudi prince had been fabricated.

Clinton said Monday that “we have to do a better job intercepting ISIL’ communications, tracking and analyzing social media posts,” adding, "I have laid out a plan to defeat ISIL.”

She called on US officials to boost relationship with Muslims and ask them to help fight groups like Daesh instead of isolating them.

“Millions of peace-loving Muslims, live, work and raise their families across America and they are the most likely to recognize the insidious effects of radicalization before it’s too late, and the position to help us block it, so we should be intensifying contacts in those communities not scapegoating or isolating them,” she stated.

Daesh terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, control parts of the country and the neighboring Iraq.

The US and Saudi Arabia are members of a coalition that has been conducting air raids purportedly against Daesh terrorists inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate since September 2014.

Orlando massacre

Clinton made the remarks in the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, where some 50 people were killed and many others were injured when a gunman, identified as a Daesh sympathizer named Omar Mateen, attacked a gay nightclub.

The former secretary of state called for a ban on assault rifles and promised to fight for stricter gun laws and stop "lone wolves" who conduct terrorist and hate crimes.

"We have to make it harder for people who should not have those weapons of war," she said. "And that may not stop every shooting, or every terrorist attack, but it will stop some and it will save lives and it will protect our first responders."

Clinton has been censured over her vote, as a senator in 2002, to authorize the use of military force in Iraq. Moreover, as secretary of state in 2011, she strongly supported a military intervention in Libya, which has led to chaos in the African country.

The former First Lady has so far surpassed the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk