Nairobi, Kenya ? Al-Qaida has siphoned millions of dollars from Islamic charities that help poor Muslims in Africa and Asia, and U.S. and Saudi government efforts to cut the flow have largely failed, Western diplomats and former charity workers say.

Working with sympathizers inside the charities, al-Qaida has for years used humanitarian funds for terror attacks in Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia, U.S. and other Western officials told The Associated Press.

In one case, donations to the Al-Haramain Foundation to support Islamic preachers ended up in the pockets of a suspect in the November 2002 bombing of an Israeli hotel in Kenya, a Western diplomat told AP.

A wholesale fish business financed with Al-Haramain funds also steered profits to the al-Qaida cell behind the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in East Africa, U.S. officials told AP.

The officials, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, cited intelligence garnered from informants, interrogations of suspects, documents seized from charities and communication intercepts.

Al-Haramain, based in Saudi Arabia, provides the clearest example of a charity that has stayed open despite repeated attempts to shut it down overseas, including fresh moves this past week by the Riyadh government.

At its height, Al-Haramain raised $40 million to $50 million a year in contributions worldwide.

U.S. officials have privately conceded that only a small percentage of the total was diverted and that few of those who worked for Al-Haramain knew money was being funneled to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization.

Still, the officials say money from Al-Haramain and other charities was — and continues to be — a major source of funds for al-Qaida.

The latest move against Al-Haramain came Wednesday when Saudi officials, under U.S. pressure, moved to dissolve the charity and create a commission to filter all contributions raised inside the kingdom to support causes abroad.

But Al-Haramain has deep roots — and wealthy benefactors — in countries where its branches are accused of helping finance al-Qaida. As pressure on the group has mounted in recent years, its foreign branches have increasingly turned to supporters outside the kingdom for money, said a U.S. intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“Vetting Saudi money is a start — it’ll stop some money from getting to al-Qaida,” said the official. “But its no solution.”

— Associated Press reporter Mike Casey in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.