EU vetoes plan to add Saudi Arabia to money-laundering list

Envoys from 28 EU member states yesterday unanimously rejected a proposal by the European Commission to add Saudi Arabia and other nations to the bloc's money-laundering blacklist. 

European sources said, the plan, drawn up by the EU's executive arm, infuriated Saudi Arabia as well as the United States and European capitals. 

They



said, the EU's 28 interior ministers will formalise the rejection at talks in Brussels. 

EU diplomats have complained that the way the commission had drawn up the list was unclear and potentially vulnerable to legal challenges. Those blacklisted already include the likes of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Ethiopia and North Korea.