U.S. ready to remove sanctions against two Swedish citizens

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The United States is close to removing two Swedish citizens of Somali origin from a list of individuals suspected of having financial ties to terrorism, Swedish and U.S. officials said Sunday.

In Washington, Treasury Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said the government has not yet taken the two men off the list, but is very close to doing so. "We are in the final stages of the delisting process and will notify the U.N. as soon as a final determination is reached," she said.

Sweden's foreign ministry said U.S. officials had notified it that the decision had been made to remove the men from the list, which Washington drew up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and which the United Nations later adopted.

The two men, whose assets were frozen in November after being put on the sanctions list, were involved with the Swedish chapter of the Somali money-transfer operation al-Barakaat, which the Bush administration has said funneled money to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. The men -- and al-Barakaat -- denied any connection to terrorism.

"The Swedish citizens in question have taken significant steps to disassociate themselves from the al-Barakaat network," Scolinos said.

Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, who had pressed the United States to lift sanctions from the two men and a third Somali immigrant, said the Swedish government was "pleased that the U.S.A. has reconsidered its decision."

"The government will therefore demand that the United Nations remove all three from its sanctions list," said Lindh.

In December 2000, the Security Council called on countries to freeze the assets of anyone associated with bin Laden. The U.N. list of those allegedly tied to bin Laden, al-Qaida and the Taliban includes over 200 individuals and more than 60 banks, companies, organizations and other entities.

The Bush administration froze al-Barakaat's assets and detained officials involved in the organization. The United Nations followed suit, ordering a global freeze on al-Barakaat. The company insists it is a legitimate business providing Somalis abroad with a way to send money home to their families.

"It feels very good not having to be on this list. At the same time, one must remember that we have been singled out as guilty of this for eight months. Our names are branded," Abdirisak Aden, one of the Swedes, said in an interview with Swedish radio.

"However, this means that I hopefully can try to live a normal life again," he said.

With his assets frozen, Aden, his wife and their two children have been living off her student loans and about $970 a month provided from a public fund set up to help him.

Leif Silbersky, the attorney for the three men, called the U.S. decision was "good news." He also said that he will recommend his clients to sign an affirmation dissociating themselves from al-Barakaat.

Last week, the United Nations removed a Canadian who ran Al-Barakaat's North American operation from its list. Canada had refused to extradite the man, Liban Hussein, to the United States. After the refusal, Washington agreed to remove him from the list.