Brussels, 02/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission presented a proposal aimed at freezing throughout the European Union the assets of 27 people and organisations identified by the United States as having links with the attacks of 11 September, and whose assets Washington wants frozen. The Commission hopes that the European Parliament, meeting in plenary session this week, will vote very quickly on this proposal so that the regulation may be adopted by the General Affairs Council on Monday already. On the basis of a United Nations Resolution, the European Union has already had since March a list of close to 170 people and organisations linked to the Taliban, whose assets must be frozen. But only 5 names mentioned on that list, which exclusively concerned those close to the Taliban, are among the list drawn up by the United States. The 27-name list, an annex to the draft regulation, may be amended by the Council in relation to advances made in investigations. It may also, the Commission stresses, be extended to terrorist organisations not linked to the attacks of 11 September. The draft regulation indeed relates to "international terrorism", without being limited to the Taliban or accomplices or perpetrators of the attacks that struck the United States.
The freeze on all the assets of the 27 organisations and people mentioned in the annex to the regulation, applies to the Community territory as to planes and ships under the jurisdiction of a Member Sate. It must be respected by all nationals of a Member State, all bodies or moral persons who trade on the Community territory, which were created according to the legislation of a Member State. Each Member State will have to decide on the penalties to implement in case of infringements to the regulation. In case of serious suspicion that a person or organisation should try to use financial services for the account of a person included on the black list, all financial institutions are held to warn the relevant authorities of their country. The freeze does not apply to funds serving to meet, on the Community territory, "essential human needs, nor payments due according to contracts or obligations concluded before entry into force of the regulation, on condition that these payments go to accounts themselves frozen, within the Community. The interests of blocked accounts will continue to run. The Commission may provide the authorisation to release funds, "to protect Community interests".
The list of the 27 names is as follows: Al Qaida/Islamic Army; Abu Sayyaf Group; Armed Islamic Group (GIA); Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM); Al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad); Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU); Asbat al-Ansar; Salafist group for Call and Combat (GSPC); Libyan Islamic Fighting Group; Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI); Islamic Army of Aden; Usama Bin laden; Muhammad Atif (a.k.a. Subhi Abu Sitta, Abu Hafs Al Masri); Sayf al-Adl; Shaykh Sai'id (a.k.a. Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad); Abu Hafs the Mauritanian (aka, Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, Khalid Al-Shanqiti); Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi; Abu Zubaydah (a.k.a. Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Hussayn, Tariq); Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi (a.k.a. Abu Abdallah); Ayman al-Zawahiri; Thirwat Salah Shihata; Tariq Anwar al-Sayyid Ahmad (a.k.a. Fathi, Amr al-Fatih); Muhammad Salah (a.k.a. Nasr Fahmi Nasr Hasanayn); Makhtab Al-Khidamat/Al Kifah; Wafa Humanitarian Organization; Al Rashid Trust; Mamoun Darkazanli Import-Export Company.