Bush to freeze more assets in effort to cut off terrorist funds

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration widened its financial assault on terrorism Friday, naming an additional 39 individuals and organizations to have their assets frozen.

The Treasury Department released a new list of entities suspected of conducting or financing terrorist activities. The latest move to choke off terrorists' funding is considered by President Bush to be a key part of the U.S. government's broader anti-terrorism campaign.

"We are determined to deny terrorists the resources to carry out their acts of evil," said Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

O'Neill said the new list includes businesses and charitable organizations that funnel money to the al-Qaida network. He also said that assets of all 22 of the FBI's recently released "most wanted terrorists" list are included in the new list and thus subject to the blocking order.

The new list follows up on a Sept. 24 order by President Bush authorizing a freeze on the assets of 27 people and organizations suspected of conducting or financing terrorist activities. The list included 12 individuals counting Osama bin Laden; 11 organizations, including the al-Qaida network; three charities; and one business.

O'Neill said the government will continue to add names of entities being targeted to have their assets frozen.

"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," O'Neill said.

On Thursday, the Bush administration announced that roughly $24 million in assets, including some belonging to bin Laden, has been frozen by the United States and other countries since last month's terror attacks.

The United States has been working closely with other nations to block the flow of money to terrorist networks, something Bush has said goes to the heart of the country's anti-terrorism campaign.

Of the $24 million frozen since the attacks, nearly $4 million was blocked by the United States, the Treasury Department said. The rest was frozen by other countries.

All of the frozen assets were connected to either Saudi exile bin Laden, his al-Qaida network or Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia, a Treasury official said, speaking on condition of anonymity

The U.S. government considers bin Laden, estimated to have a personal fortune of around $300 million, to be the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Besides the nearly $4 million frozen in the United States, "several million in additional assets are under review" to be possibly blocked, the Treasury said.

Under White House prodding, a House panel on Thursday approved legislation to further expand the government's ability to cut money flows to terrorist networks. A parallel bill is part of Bush's sweeping anti-terrorism package in the Senate.

The 62-1 vote by the House Financial Services Committee sent the measure to the full House. The lone dissenting vote came from Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a staunch libertarian.

The world's major industrial powers pledged last Saturday to intensify efforts to cut terrorists off from their funding.

The Group of Seven nations -- the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada -- said they were encouraged by the number of other countries that have agreed to join in the effort to freeze terrorist assets.

Treasury said Thursday that "102 countries have committed to joining the effort to disrupt terrorist assets and 62 countries already have put blocking orders in force."

The Financial Action Task Force, a group of nations focused on money laundering, will hold a special meeting in Washington on Oct. 29 and 30 to develop new policies to combat terrorist financing.

One of the big challenges is tracking money that moves through an underground banking system in the Middle East and parts of Asia, where large amounts of cash change hands in a paperless network based on personal trust.

In a related development, the Bush administration said Thursday that Saudi Arabia is taking steps to freeze the assets of the al-Qaida network and is cooperating fully with the United States in countering terrorism.

Saudi Arabia has not yet frozen the group's assets but is moving toward a freeze and is making good progress, according to a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

------AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon contributed to this story

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