U.S. Updating Terror Sanction List

ABCNEWS.com ^ | 6/11/2002 | The Associated Press

[grimalkin]

UNITED NATIONS June 11 — The United States is updating and trimming the list of over 200 individuals with alleged ties to Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network who are subject to U.N. sanctions, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

President Bush issued the first of several executive orders blocking assets of alleged terrorists two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the United Nations followed suit, putting a global hold on most of the assets and accounts identified by Washington.

The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the list needed updating because some people have died or severed their affiliation with institutions linked to terrorists whose assets have also been frozen.

The United States wants to make sure the list accurately reflects the people and organizations that are actively involved in terrorism, the official said.

The U.S. administration has accused bin Laden of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

In December 2000, the Security Council ordered that all states "should immediately freeze the funds and other financial assets of bin Laden and any entities and individuals associated with him."

Lists of groups and individuals allegedly tied to bin Laden, al-Qaida and the Taliban were most recently updated on May 22. That consolidated list includes more than 200 individuals and 60 banks, companies, organizations and other entities.

The United States claims al-Qaida terrorists relied heavily on funds transferred by the al-Barakaat money-transfer organization based in Somalia, which spanned 40 countries. Al-Barakaat officials say they ran a legitimate service that helped Somalis living abroad send money to relatives back home.

Sweden has asked the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Afghanistan to remove three Somali-born, naturalized Swedish citizens involved with Al-Barakaat in Sweden from the U.N. list. The three deny any terrorist connections.

Canada also refused to extradite a Somali associated with Al-Barakaat who is on the U.S. and U.N. lists to the United States, saying there is no evidence linking him to terrorism.

The U.S. official would not comment on any specific cases.