Author: Reuters
Publication: www.expressindia.com
Date: December 8, 2001
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=5274
Washington, December 7: The US State
Department said that it had put 39 groups, charities and companies on a
newly created "terrorist exclusion list," giving authorities the power
to deport members or deny them visas. Most of the groups are already on
other US lists of "terrorist organisations" and subject to financial controls,
but were not specifically subject to US visa restrictions. Attorney General
John Ashcroft had asked the State Department to put 46 groups on the new
list, which is required under the USA PATRIOT Act signed by President George
W. Bush on Oct. 26. The State Department listed 33 of those and added six
of its own, a State Department official said.
The list includes groups and companies
from Afghanistan, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya,
Northern Ireland, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Uganda and Yemen. "By designating these groups,
the Secretary (of State Colin Powell) has strengthened the United States'
ability to exclude supporters of terrorism from the country or to deport
them if they are found within our borders," State Department spokesman
Philip Reeker said in a statement.
"We will continue to expand the
list as we identify and confirm additional entities that provide support
to terrorists," the statement added. The new list is a fourth US government
list of "terrorist organisations" and adds to the confusion about what
restrictions apply to which groups. The other lists are of "foreign terrorist
organisations" (FTOs), a Treasury Department list of 153 entities subject
to tight financial controls and a State Department list of "other terrorist
groups", which are not subject to legal measures. The new designation introduces
visa restrictions for some of the "other terrorist groups" such as the
Kashmiri groups Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Irish groups
Orange Volunteers and the Red hand Defenders.
It also excludes from the United
States members or associates of the many obscure groups, charities and
commercial companies whose assets were ordered frozen in an executive order
issued on Oct. 12. The United States says these had links with al Qaeda
leader Osama bin Laden. This category includes confectionery shops in Yemen
and a variety of Islamic charities, several of which have disclaimed any
connections with bin Laden's organisation. The original Justice Department
request was even broader and included several obscure and largely defunct
organisations, such as the Breton Resistance Army of France.
