WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department Wednesday strongly denied that support in the Muslim world for the U.S-led strikes against Taliban targets in Afghanistan was eroding.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher rebuked reporters' assertions that support by Muslim nations -- in particular, Saudi Arabia -- was waning in the face of reported Afghan civilian casualties.
Boucher referred to comments made earlier Wednesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell in which "he cited some very concrete examples" of Saudi cooperation, including Riyadh's recent ratification of the Convention on Suppression of Financing for Terrorism.
The U.N. convention, adopted in December 1999, calls for all signatories to "establish as criminal offenses under its domestic law" the funding of terror attacks by individuals "with the intention that they should be used or in the knowledge that they are to be used, in full or in part" for terrorist activity.
"So there are very concrete examples of Saudi cooperation," said Boucher.
Bolstering his position of a strong international anti-terror alliance, the additional countries -- among them Germany, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Italy -- have offered their military support for the coalition against terrorism.
He also noted the continuing international crackdown on alleged terrorist organizations and arrests of terror suspects.
"You have countries around the world continuing their law enforcement efforts," said Boucher. "We've seen arrests in over 40 countries. And that law enforcement effort continues around the world."
"So I don't think we can say anything but that the coalition continues to gather momentum, continues to work at these various actions, and frankly, continues to grow stronger," he added.
The Washington Post Wednesday reported cases of deteriorating support around the globe for the strikes against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.
Citing opinion polls an interviews in several African Asian and European countries, "many people who said they were horrified by the Sept. 11 attacks said that the horror then does not justify the bombing of Afghanistan now -- even if their governments continue to back the U.S. campaign," the Post reported.
