[Ifroham4]

Date: Thu, 14 Oct 200421:01:01 -0400From: Listmgr@PD.STATE.GOV
Subject: Islamic African Relief Agency Aiding Terrorists, U.S. Government Says

Islamic African Relief Agency Aiding Terrorists, U.S. Government Says(U.S. treasury secretary says IARA aided al-Qaida and other such groups)
By Charles W. Corey
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury October 13 announced its determination that the global network of the Islamic African Relief Agency
(IARA) and five of its senior officials have been providing financial contributions to terrorist organizations.

The determination blocks all accounts, funds and assets of IARA in the
United States and criminalizes the provision of money or support to any of
the organization's more than 40 offices in the United States and
worldwide.


In a written statement, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said, "This action
marks another crucial step in the United States Government's continuing
efforts to close down the conduits that allow terrorists to raise and move
money."

The international offices of IARA, headquartered in Khartoum, Snow said,
"were providing direct financial support to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida,
Hamas and other terrorist groups.

"Today's action shuts down financial channels that were being used to
propagate terrorist activity."


Snow said terrorists are intently seeking "to abuse charitable networks
and organizations for their evil purposes."

"Today's action," Snow said, "highlights the important role of
designations in the war on terrorist finance: freezing assets that might
otherwise have been used to support terrorists; preventing future funds
from flowing through tainted channels; and making clear to the public and
our international partners the conduits being used to fuel terrorism."

Snow called the designation process "a key weapon in our arsenal to combat
terrorism" but cautioned, "It represents just one of the tools at our
disposal.

A host of U.S. government agencies work hand in hand to combat terrorist
networks from every angle of attack, Snow explained. "The tools and
expertise of our colleagues in law enforcement agencies, as well as the
intelligence and diplomatic communities, all play indispensable roles in
this fight," he added.

Under President Bush's leadership, Snow said, 393 individuals and entities
have been designated as terrorists or terrorist facilitators and, working
in concert with its global partners, the United States has frozen more
than $142 million in terrorist-related assets.