The Avalon Project : Treasury Dept. Statement of John B. Taylor; November 7, 2001

September 11, 2001 : Attack on America
Treasury Dept. Statement of John B. Taylor; November 7, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 07, 2001
PO-771

Statement of John B. Taylor

Foreign Press Center

November 7, 2001

The first shot in the war on the financing of terrorism was shot on September 24th, when President Bush listed 27 terrorist organizations and individuals and instructed U.S. financial institutions to block their accounts. Many other countries around the world took parallel action. Further shots were fired on October 12 and November 2 when an additional 61 entities were listed.

Today's action is yet another shot. There are two principal organizations on the list announced today: Al-Barakaat and Al-Taqwa/Nada Management Group, two significant terrorist financing networks. Al Barakaat is a financial conglomerate headquartered in Dubai that operates in 40 countries including the United States. The founder of the organization, Shaykh Ahmed Nur Jimale, has close links with Usama bin Laden and has used Al Barakaat to facilitate the financing and operations of Al Qaida and other terrorist organizations.

The Al Taqwa/Nada Group provides cash transfer mechanisms for Al Qaida.

Notwithstanding the significant steps announced today, the war on combating the financing of terrorist is a daunting task and is not yet won. The financiers of terror use pseudonyms and shell companies to disguise their true identities. They masquerade as legitimate businesses while directing their profits to underwrite enterprise of hate and violence.

Our work in reaching out to our coalition partners in the war on terrorist financing is showing tangible results. I am pleased to report that there has been an unprecedented level of international cooperation. Today we can say that:

184 countries and jurisdictions have committed to join the effort to combat the financing of terrorism.

112 countries now have blocking orders on terrorist assets in force, and

over $44 million has been frozen globally since September 11.

In order to add to these numbers the United States is also prepared to offer technical assistance to cooperating nations eager to engage in the full range of efforts to combat the financing of terrorism. We are working closely with the United Nations Committee on Terrorist Financing in this effort. This is a significant contribution to our overall effort.

The international community is moving forward on a number of other fronts to dry up terrorist financing.

Last week, the Financial Action Task Force held an extraordinary plenary meeting in Washington, in which the FATF adopted new recommendations to combat terrorist financing and agreed to an action plan to implement the recommendations.

At the same time, the 58 national authorities that comprise the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units are enhancing the sharing of information in order to cut off the flow of resources to terrorist organizations and their associates.

All of these steps are important in building momentum. But implementation and enforcement are what is critical. We are keeping track, account by account, dollar by dollar. We expect all countries to do the same. Combating the financing of terrorism is an essential part of the overall war on terrorism. We will win if we stay the course.

Source:
U.S. Government Website

September 11 Page

Statement of John B. Taylor Foreign Press Center November 7, 2001

Statement of John B. Taylor

Foreign Press Center

November 7, 2001