USIA - U.S. Steps Up Fight Against Terrorist Organizations, 97-10-08
From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Home Page at <http://www.usia.gov>
U.S. STEPS UP FIGHT AGAINST TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
(30 groups receive terrorist designations) (750)
By Jane A. Morse
USIA Diplomatic Correspondent
Washington -- The United State stepped up its fight against terrorism
October 8 by designating 30 groups subject to the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.
In making the announcement, President Clinton said the designations are
"part of our ongoing fight against those who would undermine freedom and
prosperity by violent acts.
"Just as we must reward and encourage the builders of peace and democracy,
we must give no quarter to the enemies of these aspirations," the President
said. "Today's action sends a clear message: the path to change is through
dialogue and open deliberation, not violence and hatred. The United States
is committed to fight against those who speak the language of terror."
At a special briefing for the press the same day, Secretary of State
Albright explained that the designations have three main consequences.
"First, as of today, it is a crime to provide funds, weapons or other types
of tangible support to any of the designated organizations," she said.
"Second, members and representatives of these organizations are hereby
ineligible for visas to enter the United States, and are subject to
exclusion from the United States."
"And third, any funds that these organizations have in our country will be
blocked."
The U.S. goal, according to Albright, is "to make the United States fully a
no-support-for-terrorism zone. Our message to anyone who comes into our
country intending to raise money for a terrorist organization is, you risk
going to jail. And our message to anyone who is part of a terrorist
organization and who wants to enter the United States is, you are not
welcome here."
Violators of the law are subject to fines and up to 10 years in prison.
The 30 foreign groups designated as terrorist organizations are: Abu Nidal
Organization (ANO); Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG); Armed Islamic Group (GIA); Aum
Shinrikyo (Aum); Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA); Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine-Hawatmeh Faction (DFLP); HAMAS (Islamic Resistance
Movement); Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA); Hizballah (Party of God); Gama'a al-
Islamiyya (Islamic Group, IG); Japanese Red Army (JRA); al-Jihad Kach
Kahane Chai Khmer Rouge Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK); Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front Dissidents
(FPMR/D);
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO); National Liberation Army (ELN);
Palestine Islamic Jihad-Shaqaqi Faction (PIJ); Palestine Liberation Front-
Abu Abbas Faction (PLF); Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP); Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC); Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC); Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17 November);
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C); Revolutionary
People's Struggle (ELA); Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL);AND Tupac
Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).
Albright emphasized that other groups may be added at any time.
In fielding questions from the press, State Department Spokesman James
Rubin refused to "rate" those organizations on the designated list or those
which have not been put on the list.
U.S. financial institutions have already been notified and have been given
the names and aliases of these designated terrorist organizations, Rubin
said. The financial institutions will be required to report back to the
Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control regarding suspicious
accounts.
Rubin acknowledged, however, that so far, few, if any, accounts belonging
to terrorist organizations have been identified. He emphasized that the
Anti-Terrorism Act's main goal is to act as a deterrent to terrorist
organizations, not as a means for confiscating funding.
Nonetheless, senior Administration officials are optimistic that the 30
terrorist groups will be hobbled financially in the United States by the
application of the 1996 law. Speaking on background with the press,
officials from the Departments of State, Treasury and Justice noted that an
Executive Order signed by the President in January 1995, which blocked
funds of 12 Middle Eastern organizations, located and froze some $800,
000.
U.S. officials maintain that the law does not restrict freedoms of speech
or association.
Albright urged other countries to follow the U.S. lead.
"The steps we are taking today of cracking down on fundraising for terror
and of banning terrorists from our shores are steps we urge other countries
to take within their jurisdiction," she said. "By steadily reducing the
habitat in which terrorism thrives, we can hope to make terrorists first an
endangered species, and ultimately, an extinct one."
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