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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| US still working with Syria to stop terror financing |
| 2005-02-02 |
| The United States is working with Syria to stop cash from flowing to terror groups, the Treasury Department's top terror funding cop said on Tuesday. Speaking with reporters after an anti-counterfeiting conference in New York, Assistant Treasury Secretary Juan Zarate said the United States was continuing to "work with the Syrian government and encourage it to take appropriate steps" to stop the flow of funds to insurgents in Iraq." But Syria still had more to do, said Zarate, who heads Treasury's anti-terrorist finance section. Earlier this month, the Treasury said it was considering new economic and other sanctions to push the Syrian government to stop suspected financial flows to Iraqi insurgents. Syria has denied serving as a conduit for terror funds. The Treasury recently ordered U.S. banks to freeze the assets of Sulayman Khalid Darwish, saying the Syrian financier backs the organization of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarate said Syria had been helpful in U.S. efforts to stop Darwish's activities, and said it was a "first step." In an address to the conference, Zarate said the U.S. government wanted to find ways to get enough data from the financial institutions to curtail funding to militant groups without overburdening banks. "The government cannot simply arrest assets and individuals involved in terrorist financing. We must build systems that filter out tainted capital," he said. Lawmakers passed the USA Patriot Act after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in an effort to thwart future anti-U.S. militant activity. That law requires more collaboration and more information sharing between the government and financial businesses. Zarate said terror groups had become more sophisticated in funding their activities as the United States and other countries cracked down on banks and other financial institutions to counter money laundering. The production and sale of counterfeit goods are one of the methods used by terrorists to raise cash, he noted. Zarate said the Treasury had "seen examples where traded goods have been used to support terrorist groups." But he added that it was often quite difficult to draw clear lines between the counterfeit trade and terrorists. New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, speaking at the same conference, said there was evidence that counterfeiters operating in New York City had sent money to Hamas and Hezbollah, groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States. "But we have not yet seen any link to al-Qaeda," Kelly said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 "...or, we could just revoke all Syrian banks' codes for bank-to-bank transfers. I'm sure that being forced to tote huge piles of cash around wouldn't bring your economy to a screeching halt or anything..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-02-02 11:27:10 AM |
| #2 They'll listen when the American forces start to form up in the staging areas just east of the Syrian border. |
| Posted by: Glereper Thigum7229 2005-02-02 10:07:29 AM |
| #1 Maybe one of the " evil " nations is finally listening that we mean business. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2005-02-02 9:15:01 AM |