Bush seeks to cut off funds to bin Laden

Bush seeks to cut off funds to bin Laden

Sept. 25, 2001

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush, calling for a "strike on the financial foundation" of terrorists, demanded Monday that foreign banks follow America’s lead and freeze the assets of 27 individuals and organizations. Osama bin Laden accused Bush of leading a new crusade against Islam "under the flag of the cross."

Bush, standing in the Rose Garden, said the order that took effect one minute after midnight applied to "terrorist organizations, individuals, terrorist leaders, a corporation that serves as a front for terrorism and several nonprofit organizations." He conceded they operate primarily overseas, adding that as a result, "We’re putting banks and financial institutions around the world on notice."

If they fail to assist, he said, the Treasury Department "now has the authority to freeze their banks’ assets and transactions in the United States."

Bush spoke nearly two weeks after the worst terrorism attack on American soil, when terrorists hijacked jetliners and flew them into the World Trade Center twin towers and Pentagon.

A fourth plane crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside after doomed passengers apparently struggled with the hijackers. More than 6,000 people are dead or missing.

Halfway around the world, bin Laden urged Pakistani Muslims to fight "the American crusade." The Saudi exile has been named repeatedly by administration officials as the chief culprit behind the Sept. 11 attacks.

In a statement dated Sunday and broadcast Monday, he said some Pakistanis died opposing American plans to use Pakistan as a springboard in the battle against terrorism.

"We hope that they are the first martyrs in Islam’s battle in this era against the new crusade and Jewish campaign led by the big crusader Bush under the flag of the cross," he said of the dead. The statement was broadcast by Al-Jazeera, the Qatar satellite channel.

The leader of Afghanistan’s ruling militia, Mullah Mohammed Omar, said the United States should withdraw from the Persian Gulf and "put an end to the biased attitude on the issue of Palestine."

In a faxed statement, he said the death of bin Laden would do little to remove any threat to the United States.

Administration officials indicated a continuing concern about more terrorism directed at the United States. Concerned about possible chemical-weapons attacks, the FAA extended Sunday’s ban on crop-dusting from airplanes in domestic airspace.

Flanked by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, Bush said: "Money is the lifeblood of terrorist operations. Today, we’re asking the world to stop payment." He called the list "the financial equivalent of law enforcement’s most-wanted list."

The White House issued a list covered by the president’s order. It included bin Laden and several others by name, as well as organizations such as Al-Jihad, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; and the Mamoun Darkazanli Import-Export Co.

A fact sheet issued by the White House expanded an order put in place during the Clinton administration. It expands the class of affected groups to all those who are "associated with" designated terrorist groups, and "establishes our ability to block the U.S. assets of, and deny access to U.S. markets, those foreign banks that refuse to freeze terrorist assets."

The president’s executive order marked the first public step of the financial elements of his declared war on terrorism. He also worked on the diplomatic front during the day, meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien at the White House.

Chretien said, "You have the support of Canada. When you need us we will be there."

At the same time, American military forces are deploying around the world in anticipation of a strike against bin Laden and his al-Qaida network. Pakistan announced Monday it had removed its diplomats from Afghanistan.

Pakistan has a large Muslim population and has had ties with the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan. Yet the nation’s president, Pervez Musharraf, has pledged cooperation with the United States.

Demonstrations have been held in several Pakistani cities by Pakistanis who view bin Laden as a hero and object to their government’s cooperating with the United States.