12 October 2001
Text: Treasury's O'Neill on Freezing Additional Terrorist Assets
(U.S. action coordinated with allies, he says) (400)
The United States has frozen the U.S. financial assets of 39 more
persons and entities connected with terrorism, Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill says.
In an October 12 statement, O'Neill said he and Secretary of State
Colin Powell notified all U.S. financial institutions of the action
covering businesses and charitable organizations known to funnel money
to the al Qaeda terrorist network.
O'Neill said some U.S. allies had simultaneously taken similar action.
"We are determined to deny terrorists the resources to carry out their
acts of evil," he said.
In a September 24 executive order, President Bush froze financial
assets of 27 individuals and organizations connected with terrorism.
Following is the text of the statement:
(begin text)
October 12, 2001
SECRETARY OF TREASURY PAUL O'NEILL
ON TERRORIST ASSET BLOCKING ORDER ISSUED TODAY
The President fired the first shot in the war on terrorism several
weeks ago when he ordered accounts of suspected terrorist blocked in
the United States and spurred the entire world to act with
unprecedented speed and cooperation to disrupt the financial
underpinnings of terrorism.
This morning we took the next step in this financial war. Together
Secretary Powell and I notified all financial institutions in the
United States to block the assets of 39 additional persons and
entities that are either wanted terrorists or who are known to
financially support terrorism. The list includes businesses and
charitable organizations that funnel money to the al Qaeda terrorist
network. U.S. assets of all 22 of the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists are
now subject to this blocking order. Under the Executive Order signed
by the President on September 24, all U.S. citizens and businesses are
prohibited from doing business with the people and organizations on
this list.
We coordinated this blocking order with our allies around the world,
and many of them instituted blocking orders today as well. Together
with the State Department we have built an international coalition to
disrupt the terrorist financing network.
This list will continue to grow as we share information between
nations and develop an increasingly clear understanding of the complex
network of terrorist financing. We are determined to deny terrorists
the resources to carry out their acts of evil.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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