WASHINGTON, June 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S. Treasury announced Wednesday, June 2, the appointment of an Arab economist as its first in-house expert to boost understanding of Islamic banking.

The decision came almost simultaneous as a top Saudi advisor announced in a joint press conference with U.S. officials in Washington that the kingdom would dissolve leading charity groups or have their international operations and assets folded into the new Saudi National Commission for Charitable Work Abroad.

"With the recent growth of the Islamic finance industry, deeper understanding of Islamic finance is a priority for this administration," Undersecretary for International Affairs John Taylor was said in a statement.

Following the 9/11 attacks, Washington has been seeking to dry up what it sees as channels funding "terrorist groups."

Many Muslim groups feel they have been singled out for scrutiny by U.S. officials, including the Treasury, since the terror attacks and some charities have accused the government of staging a "witch hunt" against them, noted Reuters.

Salam Al-Marayati, who heads the Muslim Public Affairs Council advocacy group, hoped Gamal's appointment would help iron out some of the problems faced by Islamic groups.

"We welcome the appointment. This is a positive response to our call for the Bush administration to appoint American Muslims to policy-making positions in government," he told Reuters.

Treasury said Gamal would conduct workshops for U.S. government agencies on Islamic finance, including overviews of the industry, prudent supervision and regulation, accounting standards, government practices and debt management.

While mainly practiced in the Middle East and Asia, the Islamic finance industry is growing in Europe and North America, the U.S. Treasury said.

Gamal has previously worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and taught at the University of Wisconsin, California Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester.

"We are working to identify and shut down the financial sources that support terrorism," Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign affairs advisor to Saudi Crown Prince and de-facto ruler, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, told a press conference at the Saudi embassy in Washington.

"We have audited our charities and reorganized charitable work abroad to ensure that funds reach their intended recipients."

Al-Jubeir said the new commission "will be subject to strict financial legal oversight, and will operate according to clear policies to ensure that charitable funds intended to help the needy are not misused."

According to the Saudis, Al-Haramain receives between 40 and 50 million dollars each year in donations.

In January, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced they had taken action against the charity's branches in Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan and Tanzania.

The Saudi government ordered Al-Haramain to close all of its overseas branches in 2003 but subsequent monitoring has shown several are still in operation.

"We are working to identify and shut down the financial sources that support terrorism," Al-Jubeir said (AFP)

U.S. politicians and media have often questioned the Saudi government's determination to fight "terrorism" since the 9/11 attacks, where 15 of the 19 hijackers were claimed to be Saudis.