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Bush Announces Closure of Two "Terrorist-Financing" Networks
WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (News Agencies) - U.S. President George W. Bush announced on Wednesday that authorities shut down the U.S. offices of two financial networks accused of financing terrorists blamed for the September 11 attacks on the U.S.
He said assets of people and groups linked to the networks were frozen.
"Today, we are taking another step in our fight against evil. We are shutting down two major elements of the terrorists' international financial network, both at home and abroad," Bush said in a speech at a U.S. Treasury office.
"Acting on credible and solid evidence, the Treasury of the United States today blocked the U.S. assets of 62 individuals and organizations connected with two terrorist-supporting financial networks, the al-Taqwa and the al-Barakaat," he said.
The organizations are money exchange networks, known in Arabic as hawalas, which have offices in the United States. They essentially operate as unlicensed banks.
"Al-Taqwa and al-Barakaat raise funds for al-Qaeda," he said, naming the network run by Afghan-based Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, whom Washington accuses of masterminding the September 11 attacks.
"They manage, invest and distribute those funds," he said.
"They provide terrorist supporters with Internet service, secure telephone communications and other ways of sending messages and sharing information. They even arrange for the shipment of weapons," Bush said.
"Their offices have been shut down in four U.S. states, and our G-8 partners and other friends, including the United Arab Emirates, have joined us in blocking assets and coordinating enforcement action," Bush said.
"Al-Taqwa is an association of offshore banks and financial management firms that have helped al-Qaeda shift money around the world. Al-Barakaat is a group of money-wiring and communication companies owned by a friend and supporter of Osama bin Laden," he said.
The 62 groups and individuals are being added on to an earlier list of 88 such entities whose assets have been frozen because of their ties to "terrorist groups." Bush has said that $43 million in al-Qaeda assets have been frozen thus far.
Soon after Bush's announcement, the official WAM news agency reported that authorities seized the assets of al-Barakaat in the United Arab Emirates.
UAE and U.S. authorities "have seized the assets of the al-Barakaat firm, as well as the accounts and assets of a certain number of companies and individuals linked to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda," a finance ministry spokesman was quoted as saying.
Affected in the UAE were 11 firms or individuals, all linked to Al-Barakaat, and another 10 in the United States, the spokesman added.
The Emirati official said the action against Al-Barakaat was taken "within the framework of international efforts aimed at smashing networks financing terrorism and to protect the international economy from money-laundering."
He added that the targeted firms operate in a number of European countries, as well as in the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
"The authorities in [Emirates and the United States] seized the accounts and assets of these institutions to ensure that their activities would no longer present a danger to world security and legal business activities," he added.
On October 30, the Emirati central bank shut down a foreign exchange office and placed nine others under surveillance.
Meanwhile, federal agents in four U.S. cities moved to shut down the operations of the
hawalas.
The Justice Department said two men were taken into custody early Wednesday in Massachusetts and that raids were conducted in Boston, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; and Columbus, Ohio, according to CNN's online news service.
Federal agents raided at least nine U.S. businesses, a Washington Post report said Wednesday, and in addition to arresting the two men have issued warrants for six others associated with al-Barakaat.
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