THE United States acted today to financially paralyse two foreign entities and an individual believed to be providing money for al-Qaeda’s terrorist network. The US Treasury Department added to its list of suspected terrorist financiers: Vazir, a non-profit organisation headquartered in Travnik, Bosnia; a key representative of the group, Safet Durguti; and Hochburg AG, a company located in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. The department’s designation freezes their financial assets in the US. It also means they are prohibited from conducting financial transactions in the United States and bars Americans from doing business with them. The United States and Saudi Arabia also asked the United Nations to add the three names to its blocking list, which is honoured by member countries, the Treasury Department said.
| Though often in the breach... |
Juan Zarate, the Treasury Department’s deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, said that Vazir is picking up where the closed Bosnia branch of Al Haramain, a Saudi-based charity, left off. That branch of Al Haramain was put on the US list of terrorist financiers last year, which is aimed at severing the group from the US banking system.
| A hand-off? Or a false nose and moustache? |
Treasury said Durguti helped to open the Vazir office this year in the same location as the former office of Al Haramain.
| "You don't think this false moustache makes my face look fat, do you?" |
Hochburg AG sprung up as the successor organisation to BA Taqwa for Commerce and Real Estate Co Ltd, which the United States also put on its list of terrorist financiers last year, Treasury said. Youssef Nada, who was put on the US blocking list in 2001 and had a controlling interest in BA Taqwa, "maintains an ongoing interest in the liquidation of Hochburg", Treasury said. Hochburg and BA Taqwa share the same business registration number, the department said.
| "I dunno. That false nose makes you look... well... Irish." |
Discussing al-Qaeda’s financing, Zarate said: "I think the notion of al-Qaeda having a big pot or stash of money somewhere is sort of a false assumption. Al-Qaeda generates its funds constantly in part through these charities, in part through big donors," he said. "We are convinced that we have cut down the flow of funds to al-Qaeda. ... To say that we’ve cut off all fund flows to al-Qaeda would be incorrect. ... Even $US2,000 ($A2,733) available to al-Qaeda, in our minds, is too much," Zarate added.
On other terror financing matters, Zarate said the United States continues to work closely with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan to turn over Iraqi assets found for Iraq reconstruction. Zarate would not say how much money in Iraqi assets has been found in the three countries. He characterised as "gross overestimations" media reports that $US2 billion ($2.73 billion) to $US3 billion ($A4.1 billion) in Iraqi assets were stashed in Syria, but he refused to provide an estimate. |