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US Treasury cites 3 Saudis over aid to Abu Sayyaf
10 Oct 2007 18:02:55 GMT
Source: Reuters
By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department added three Saudi nationals to its list of terrorist financiers on Wednesday, accusing them of providing financial support to the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militant group in Southeast Asia.

The Treasury also took similar actions against seven Colombians and 14 companies linked to alleged Colombian drug kingpin Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, adding them to its a list of specially designated narcotics traffickers.

Both actions prohibit Americans from doing business with designated individuals and firms and attempt to freeze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

There are more than 6,000 names on the Treasury's list of specially designated nationals, which includes accused drug traffickers, terrorist financiers and money launderers.

The Treasury said the Saudis named as "specially designated global terrorists" have served as significant sources of financial and other support to Abu Sayyaf, a radical Muslim group blamed for multiple bombings, kidnappings and other attacks in Southeast Asia.

The Philippines accuses Abu Sayyaf of killing 100 people in a ferry bombing near Manila Bay in 2004, in the country's worst such attack. It is one of several Muslim separatist groups battling Philippine government troops on the country's southern islands of Basilan and Jolo.

"These three terrorist financiers were instrumental in raising money to fund terrorism outside of Saudi Arabia," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

"In order to deter other would-be donors, it is important to hold these terrorists publicly accountable," Levey said in a statement.

The Treasury said Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi, 46, a "loyal colleague" of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, provided financial assistance to Abu Sayyaf fighters derived from donors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in the early and mid-1990s. He brought training materials, including the al Qaeda operations manual, to Philippine contacts, it said.

WEAPONS SHIPMENTS

Also blacklisted for succeeding Talhi in the late 1990s was Muhammad Abdallah Salih Sughayr, who the Treasury said facilitated weapons and ammunitions shipments to Abu Sayyaf and recruited foreign fighters for the group.

The Treasury named Fahd Muhammad Abd al-Aziz al Khashiban, as a terrorist financier, saying earlier this decade he gave Abu Sayyaf $18,000 to execute a bombing of the U.S. or Australian embassy in Manila -- a plot disrupted by Philippine authorities.

In the Colombian drug designations, the Treasury is attempting to cut off more of Ramirez Abadia's illicit business empire from the international financial system. It has blacklisted dozens of people and firms it has linked to the cocaine baron since 2006.

Known as Chupeta, or "Lollipop" in Colombian Spanish, Ramirez Abadia was arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Aug. 7 and is awaiting extradition to the United States on drug charges.

The firms targeted by the Treasury sanctions include Cambios y Capitales SA, a major Bogota-based currency exchange and money remittance company.

In August, Colombian authorities seized $400 million in property from Ramirez Abadia, including a Caribbean island, farms, apartment buildings and a hotel.
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Colombian President Alvaro Uribe talks on the phone at the presidential palace in Bogota November 30, 2007. Colombia has captured videos and documents from rebel-held hostages, French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. contract workers, including images apparently recorded in October, authorities said on Friday. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (COLOMBIA)



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