U.S. adds Hamas and Hezbollah to list of terrorist groups

Reuters/Ha'aretz ^ | 11/02/01 | Staff Writer

[veronica]

U.S. adds Hamas and Hezbollah to list of terrorist groups

By Reuters

WASHINGTON - The United States on Friday added 22 groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, to the list of "terrorist" groups under tight financial controls introduced after the September 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-Qaida and five allegedly associated groups - came under the new rules in September. Al-Qaida, 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-Qaida 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, Hezbollah, 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.

Uniform set of rules

"It brings all foreign terrorist organizations under one uniform set of rules," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a daily briefing.

"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 Hezbollah. 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-Qaida 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-Qaida, 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.

[Jack Barbara]

Two nights ago, I had a rash of short ugly people knocking on my door demanding candy and threatening damage to my property if I didn't cough up. I'm not sure, but I think it was a terrorist action spawned by the League of Womyn Voters.

[TopDog2]

VERY good news growl back at ya!

[Skel]

Two nights ago, I had a rash of short ugly people knocking on my door demanding candy

And I thought I was the only one to be visited by Donna Shalala and company.

[gedeon3]

THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS IS A GREAT INSTITUTION AGAINST COMMUNIST TERRORISTS. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.

[prognostigaator]

Eradicating Al Quaida is the giant step,Hamas and Hezbollah and the other terrorists groups -'wherever they may be and whoever harbors them' were always on the list..

One step at a time for man,the earlier diversions from this original objective as a priority were rocking the boat insofar as disturbing the 'coalition' is concerned .

Sharon must have gotten the message. Rooting out America's enemies first , and then destroying extremist Moslem terrorist groups in Pakistan, the Phillipines and Malaysia and other countries in the Middle East [in any order of priority ]are simply the other small steps to be taken by George Bush for the overall benefit for mankind.

[copycat]

I suggest they add "United Way" to the list.

Along with Handgun Control Inc.

[Orbiter]

Bets on when drug cartels and American militias make the list? Just wonderin'.

[RightWhale]

Rather than the alphabetical list, they should provide a priority list. Update the priority list daily, moving each organization up or down the list based on it's current and past actions and proclamations. For example, a Hizbolla call from Damascus for Death to Israel or support to the PLO would adjust Hizbolla's rank up a notch.

[gedeon3]

DRUG CARTELS, YES, AMERICAN MILITIAS ARE NOT TERRORISTS. THEY ARE PATRIOTS, NOT TRAITORS/COWARDS.

[mdittmar]

Good idea,hopefully we're considering all of them as #1.

[Belial]

THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS IS A GREAT INSTITUTION AGAINST COMMUNIST TERRORISTS.

In 1996 the US Gov finally released seven of the school's training manuals. In the SOA, budding terrorists are trained in the finer arts of blackmail, torture, execution and the arrest of witnesses' relatives.

Does that sound like a great institution to you?

[SJackson]

..Hamas and Hezbollah... were always on the list..

No they weren't, they were on the State Dept list and unaffected by the Presidential order. Their addition is overdue.

I hope this means Powell's "morally equivilent" stance on Israel and the PLO is out the window. I wonder if Kassem's statement today that "Palestine must be completely liberated...no compromise" played a role in this.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

How YOU can assist/support HOMELAND DEFENSE


FBI Website

FBI Most Wanted Terrorists Page With Pictures

Click Here To Report Suspicious Activity to the FBI

Call the FBI Toll Free at 1-866-483-5137
if you see or hear anything that threatens our national security.

America's Most Wanted website

The US State Department Rewards for Justice Program
was established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism, Public Law 98-533.
Under the Rewards Program, cooperating individuals and their immediate family members
may be eligible for relocation to the United States or elsewhere,
and they are assured complete confidentiality.
Rewards, totaling millions of dollars, have been paid in dozens of cases.
Innocent lives have been saved and terrorists put behind bars.

[SJackson]

If we were making this list 200 years ago, would George Washington's Continental Army have made the list? If so, I've got a problem with how we're defining terrorists.

No. The Continental Army didn't specialize in mortaring civilians.

[Sir Gawain]

[varon]

U.S. adds Hamas and Hezbollah to list of terrorist groups

OK, so when does the bombing start?

[onedoug]

Do you have any examples from these "manuals" that you might post. The verbs you mentioned are not US Army doctrine.

[Belial]

Some of them are online here.

You can make up whatever vocabulary you want for things. There is a commonly understood vocabulary however, unless you are Bill Clinton or the SOA describing their own activities.