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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (5689)	8/22/2003 4:57:40 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793551

I am surprised we didn't do this sooner [The New York Times] August 22, 2003 Bush Orders U.S. to Freeze Assets of Hamas Leaders By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 4:28 p.m. ET SEATTLE (AP) -- President Bush, after freezing the assets of several people and groups with ties to Hamas, said Friday that Palestinians yearning for an independent state must ``dismantle the terrorist network.'' Bush, who did not single out Israelis for recrimination, pledged to continue pushing for peace in the Middle East despite a rise in violence. ``I think it's important for the United States to continue to remain engaged, and I will,'' Bush said in a brief news conference while promoting his economic plan in Washington, an important political state. Earlier Friday, the Bush administration froze the assets of six senior Hamas leaders and five European-based organizations it says raise money for the radical Palestinian group. Bush said he was taking the action because of Tuesday's suicide attack on a packed bus in Jerusalem that killed 20 people, including six children. Hamas claimed responsibility. ``We'll just keep working the issue hard and remind people of this important fact, that if people want there to be peace in the Middle East -- Palestinians want to see their own state -- they've got to dismantle the terrorist network.'' A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was the first effort to block Hamas' assets or funding sources outside the United States. Similar action has been taken worldwide against al-Qaida and other terrorist networks, however. The Jerusalem bombing launched a new round of Mideast violence. ``Hamas has reaffirmed that it is a terrorist organization committed to violence against Israelis and to undermining progress toward peace between Israel and the Palestinian people,'' said Bush, who stopped here during a two-day trip through the Pacific Northwest. Bush called on ``all nations supportive of peace in the Middle East'' to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization and to join the United States in freezing the groups' funds. The Treasury Department supplied the following names and identifications for the six individuals: Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas in Gaza; Imad Khalil Al-Alami, a member of the Hamas political bureau in Damascas, Syria; Usama Hamdan, a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon; Khalid Mishaal, head of the Hamas political bureau and executive committee in Damascus; Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy chief of the political bureau in Syria; and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader that Treasury described as reporting to Yassin. The charities whose assets were frozen included a support group based in France called the Committee for Charity and Aid for the Palestinians; the Association for Palestinian Aid in Switzerland; the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, or Interpal, headquartered in Britain; the Palestinian Association in Austria; and the Sanabil Association for Relief and Development, which is based in Lebanon. The administration official said several European countries appear supportive of the asset freeze, but that the administration was waiting to see the official response. The White House also reacted cautiously Friday to the promised Israeli campaign against militant chiefs. ``Our focus is on getting the parties back together so they can work to resolve these issues,'' Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said. ``We've always said that Israel has the right to defend herself. We also always pointed out that the parties, including Israel, need to keep in mind the consequence of the actions that they take -- the effect of those actions on the peace process.''