The U.S. Treasury Department says the Islamic African Relief Agency, a charitable group based in Sudan, has been aiding international terrorists, including al-Qaida. As a result, the Treasury Department is blocking all of the group's assets in the U.S. and has made it a criminal act to give money to the group.
In a written statement, Treasury Secretary John Snow said the international offices of the Islamic African Relief Agency "were providing direct financial support to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida, Hamas, and other terrorist groups." He said this shows once again "the intent by terrorists to abuse charitable networks and organizations for their evil purposes."
The Treasury Department action also applies to five senior officials of the Islamic African Relief Agency. Mr. Snow said the action highlights the importance of "freezing assets that might otherwise have been used to support terrorists [and] preventing future funds from flowing through tainted channels. . . . Terrorists are fueled by hate," he said, "but money allows terrorists to carry out their vile plans."
The U.S. has designated nearly four-hundred individuals and groups as terrorists or their facilitators. And working together, said Treasury Secretary Snow, the U.S. and other countries have frozen more than one-hundred-forty-million dollars in terrorist-related assets.
Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, President George W. Bush said that terrorists are now on the defensive because many countries have banded together to fight them:
"All civilized nations are in this struggle together. And all must fight the murderers. We're determined to destroy terror networks wherever they operate, and the United States is grateful to every nation that is helping to seize terrorist assets, track down their operatives, and disrupt their plans."
International terrorists are learning, says President Bush, that civilized nations "will no longer live in denial or seek to appease them."