U.S. applies new rules to 22 more 'terrorist'

Reuters ^ | 02 NOV 2001 | Reuters

[CommiesOut]

UPDATE 3 - U.S. applies new rules to 22 more 'terrorist' groups

 (Adds comments by Rep. Tom Lantos, paragraphs 8-9) 
    By Jonathan Wright 
    WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday 
added 22 groups including Hamas and Hizbollah to the list of 
"terrorist" groups under tight financial controls introduced 
after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. 
    The main pro-Israeli lobbying organization in the United 
States applauded the decision, saying it showed the Bush 
administration intended to combat all forms of terrorism. 
    Six groups -- al Qaeda and five allegedly associated groups 
-- came under the new rules in September. Al Qaeda, led by 
Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, is the prime suspect in 
the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on the United States. 
    The addition standardizes the rules for all 28 groups on 
Washington's list of "foreign terrorist organizations" and 
suggests that the United States still wants to extend its 
campaign against terrorism beyond the al Qaeda organization. 
    It also meets demands from Israeli leaders and U.S. 
lawmakers that the tighter restrictions apply to the groups 
which attack Israelis, such as Hamas, Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad 
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 
    "We applaud the Bush administration for its decision to 
aggressively go after all forms of terrorism," said Rebecca 
Needler, spokeswoman for the pro-Israeli American Israel Public 
Affairs Committee. 
    "This new list clearly shows that there is no distinction 
between terrorism against Americans and terrorism against 
Israelis," added an AIPAC official who asked not to be named. 
    Tom Lantos of California, the ranking Democrat on the House 
of Representatives International Relations Committee, said: "I 
welcome today's overdue decision, which I urged the 
administration to make a month ago." 
    "All international terrorist groups including Hamas, 
Hizbollah and Islamic Jihad ... must be considered America's 
adversaries in the war against terrorism," he added. 
    
 UNIFORM SET OF RULES 
    State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a daily 
briefing: "It brings all foreign terrorist organizations under 
one uniform set of rules." 
    "The new executive order (in September) gave us more 
authority to act against individuals, against organizations 
that are associated with these terrorist groups, and against 
banks that facilitate the flow of funds for them," he added. 
    Designation as a "terrorist organization" already led to 
the freezing of assets but under the September rules the United 
States can exclude from the U.S. market and block the assets of 
foreign banks which do not comply with its requests. 
    After President George W. Bush tightened up the system on 
Sept. 24, pro-Israeli groups complained that he had not 
included Hamas and Hizbollah. 
    They said the United States, to muster Arab support for its 
campaign against Osama bin Laden, appeared to be distinguishing 
between attacks on Americans and attacks on Israelis. 
    The addition of the 22 groups could also be a minor victory 
for the view that the United States should fight "terrorism" on 
a broad front, not concentrate solely on bin Laden. 
    "The president has made clear that Al Qaeda is the first 
organization that we're going after, but it's not the only 
terrorist organization," Boucher said. 
    Other groups among the 22 include eight Arab organizations, 
three Colombian groups, the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) 
and the Basque group ETA. 
    The original six groups associated with bin Laden were al 
Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, the Armed Islamic Group 
in Algeria, the Harakat ul-Mujahidin in Pakistan and Kashmir, 
Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. 
 ((Jonathan Wright, State Department bureau, +1 202 898 8393, 
fax +1 202 659 5254, jonathan.wright@reuters.com)) 

02 NOV 2001 22:49:31

[CommiesOut]

Terrorist ping.

[meridia]

Last month, just days after the WTC Atrocity, this is precisely what I told others would happen.

That Bush planned to methodically and meticulously rid our planet of these barbaric primitives. And that will take years, but the foundations are being well laid.