The United States has announced it has ordered a freeze on the financial assets of 10 alleged members of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group. "This is an important further step in dealing with terrorism," US Treasury Secretary John Snow said at the conclusion of an Asia Pacific economic meeting focused in part on clamping down on terrorist money flows. "The assets of these individuals will be frozen, and financial institutions will not be able to continue to have financial relationships with them. They would be closed off on a global basis from the ability to access financial institutions."
The action identifies 10 individuals "at the heart of the network", Mr Snow said in a statement released in Washington prior to his announcement at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) finance ministers meeting held in Thailand. "These terrorists have worked to achieve Al Qaeda's terrorist goals in south-east Asia," Mr Snow said in the statement. "They have plotted to assassinate international leaders, they have planned and supported attacks such as the Bali bombing - a horrific act that took the lives of 200 people and wounded 300. We look forward to working with our allies in the region to dismantle JI, to shut down their sources of financing and support, and to eliminate the threat that they present to the people of south-east Asia."
The US designation would freeze assets belonging to the 10 JI members in the United States and prohibit all transactions between them and US citizens. The suspects' names would be submitted by Washington to the United Nations early on Friday local time. After 72 hours, providing there were no objections, all UN members would have to freeze the assets. The names on the list were: Yasin Syawal, Mukhlis Yunos, Imam Samudra, Huda bin Abdul Haq (more commonly known as Mukhlas), Parlindungan Siregar, Julkipli Salim Y Salamuddin, Aris Munandar, Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, Agus Dwikarna, Abul Hakim Murad. Mr Snow said the nationalities of the 10 would also soon be released. Washington also expected to freeze the assets of another 10 JI suspects whose names have already been forwarded by an as yet unidentified Asian partner to the United Nations, as part of a regional effort.
I'd call the fact that the assets of the ones I recognize off the top of my head — al-Ghozi, Agus, Mukhlis Yunos, Mukhlas, etc. — haven't already been frozen to be an example of bureaucratic ineptitude, as well as evidence that the Treasury department doesn't have an terrorist tracking mechanism even on the rudimentary order of Rantburg/Thugburg. Al-Ghozi was snagged with a suitcase full of explosives in Manila a year and a half ago. He's been arrested, tried, convicted, interrogated, and he's escaped in that time, and now they're getting around to freezing his assets.
Yo! Treasury Department! I'm available to write you a Bad Guy tracking system, cheap! |
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