Saudi Arabia denies group's "Chechen links"

Saudia Arabia has denied Russian allegations that a Muslim charity based in Saudi Arabia has been financing rebels in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

An official source, quoted by the Saudi news agency SPA, said the Russian charge was totally unfounded.

Last Friday, the Russian Federal Security Service -- the successor to the KGB -- accused a Saudi-based Islamic organisation, al-Haramein, of providing the Chechen rebels with money and supplies under the guise of supporting Muslim religious activities. The Russian statement said al-Haramein had originally been set up to back mujahedin fighting troops of the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service