section_path: Government and politics/Foreign relations/Allegations of sponsoring global terrorism
section_name: Allegations of sponsoring global terrorism
paragraph_text: Allegations of sponsoring global terrorism
  
  Saudi Arabia has been accused of sponsoring Islamic terrorism. According to Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in March 2014, Saudi Arabia along with Qatar provided political, financial, and media support to terrorists against the Iraqi government. Similarly, President of Syria Bashar al-Assad noted in 2015 that the sources of the extreme ideology of the terrorist organization ISIS and other such salafist extremist groups are the Wahabbism that has been supported by the royal family of Saudi Arabia.
  
  Relations with the U.S. became strained following 9/11 terror attacks. American politicians and media accused the Saudi government of supporting terrorism and tolerating a jihadist culture. According to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2010, "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups... Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide." The Saudi government denies these claims or that it exports religious or cultural extremism. In September 2016, the U.S. Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act that would allow relatives of victims of the 11 September attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for its government's alleged role in the attacks. In 2014, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, issued a fatwa explicitly prohibiting joining or supporting terrorist organizations such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. According to the U.S. Department of State, "Saudi Arabia plays an important role in working toward a peaceful and prosperous future for the region and is a strong partner in security and counterterrorism efforts and in military, diplomatic, and financial cooperation." A significant Saudi counterterrorism success success was the foiling of a 2010 cargo plane bomb plot. In December 2015, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, an alliance of Muslim-majority countries aimed at combating terrorism and extremism.
  
  However, since 2016 the kingdom began backing away from Islamist ideologies. Several reforms took place including curbing the powers of religious police, and stopping funding mosques in foreign countries.