Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Pakistan Freezes Accounts of 2 Firms Suspected of Funding Taleban

By VOA News
25 January 2006

Pakistani authorities have raided offices of two Afghan trading firms suspected of providing funds to leaders of Taleban insurgents and frozen their bank accounts.

Pakistani officials say the raids by government agents in the northwestern city of Peshawar and in the capital, Islamabad, occurred on Tuesday.

They say the agents seized documents indicating the firms' involvement in transferring money to the Taleban. The authorities now are trying to determine whether the funds were being channeled to the Taleban's reclusive leader, Mullah Omar.

Tuesday's raids came the same day as a meeting in Washington between President Bush and Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, in which the two sides vowed to continue working closely to defeat terrorism.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.