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Saudis freeze assets linked to terror©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, WASHINGTON -- The Saudi government has issued an order to freeze assets of people and groups suspected of links to terrorism, cooperating with the U.S. campaign to disrupt terrorist financing, Bush administration officials said Wednesday. President Bush has ordered the freezing of U.S. assets of 66 people and organizations suspected of conducting or financing terror. The U.S. government is in a delicate situation in its relationship with Saudi Arabia. The longstanding ally sometimes seems reluctant to be a full partner in the U.S.-organized antiterror coalition. Saudi Arabia is thought to be the home of at least half of the suicide hijackers and other suspects in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was pleased with the Saudi order. "Everything we have asked them to do they have done," he said. The information about Saudi Arabia came as a 29-nation task force, which had met in a two-day emergency session in Washington, announced it had adopted measures to disrupt terrorists' financing. The measures include imposing antimoney laundering requirements on nonbank financial systems, such as the informal hawala network of money brokers thought to be used by the al-Qaida network of terrorist Osama bin Laden. The actions by the task force "could potentially save thousands of lives," said Jimmy Gurule, the Treasury undersecretary for enforcement. He said they show "the kind of cooperation and international teamwork necessary to shut down those who perpetrate acts of terror against us and other law-abiding nations." The group does not plan to discuss until June, however, possible penalties against countries that fail to cooperate in the effort against terrorist financing. Saudi Arabia has cooperated with the U.S. financial action against terrorism and has issued an order to block the assets, Gurule said. Asked whether the Saudi government had actually blocked assets, he replied, "I think what's most important is cooperation." In some cases, Gurule said, it may be more desirable to keep bank accounts open and monitor them as part of an investigation. Treasury officials say 152 countries have pledged cooperation with the U.S. effort. Of those, 81 have issued asset blocking orders, including Saudi Arabia. The orders freeze the assets and prohibit citizens of those countries from doing business with the named individuals and organizations. In Switzerland, an official said Wednesday that the country has blocked 24 bank accounts containing $12-million based on the U.S. list of organizations and individuals suspected of links to the terrorist attacks.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
