Posted on 11/02/2001 4:01:47 PM PST by 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
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.
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