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Zarqawi group added to terror list
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=2813&click_id=2813&art_id=qw1097854381549U262&set_id=6
Washington - The United States on Friday formally designated the Iraqi insurgent group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi a "foreign terrorist organisation", and slapped sanctions on him and other members.
This comes a day after they claimed responsibility for deadly twin attacks in Baghdad's Green Zone.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell made the designations amid worsening violence in Iraq, including kidnappings and beheadings of foreign hostages by members of the Jordanian-born Zarqawi's Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) group.
Powell said the organisation headed by Iraq's most wanted man posed a "significant risk" to US national security.
"The Secretary of State has concluded that there is a sufficient factual basis to find that the relevant circumstances (for the designation) exist with respect to Jam'at al Tawhid wa'al-Jihad," the State Department said in a notice in the Federal Register.
"Therefore, effective October 15, 2004, the Secretary of State hereby designates that organisation as a foreign terrorist organisation," it said.
In a separate notice, Powell imposed economic sanctions on the Zarqawi group and three of its aliases, including a freeze on all assets it may have in US jurisdictions.
"I hereby determine that the organisation known as Jam'at al Tawhid wa'al-Jihad... has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States," he said.
The aliases for the group were listed as the "Monotheism and Jihad Group," "the al-Zarqawi Network" and "al-Tawhid," the notice said.
On Thursday, Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for the attacks in the Green Zone that killed at least five people.
The claim was made in a statement attributed to the group that was posted on an Islamist website but its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
"This operation is one of the most successful operations carried out by your brothers in the Tawhid wal Jihad group, thank be to God. We will subsequently inform the (Islamic) nation of the details," said the statement which was signed by the group's military wing.
Zarqawi's group, which is allegedly linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, is accused of some of the deadliest car bombings and a string of kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq.
The attack came only a day after Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned the rebel city of Fallujah to surrender Zarqawi, who has a $25-million bounty on his head, or face invasion.