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US freezes assets of more terror suspects

"Assets of these individuals will be frozen and financial institutions will not be able to continue to have financial relations with them."

John Snow, US treasury secretary

The US has frozen the financial assets of 10 Malaysians considered to be "global terrorists," including alleged key members of the al-Qaeda-linked Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah. The Malaysian suspects were in addition to 10 other suspects, mostly Indonesians, announced by US Treasury Secretary John Snow on Friday in Thailand, where he attended a meeting of finance ministers from the APEC forum. Snow said the US government has submitted the names he identified to the UN and wants members of the global body to similarly freeze their assets.

The US Office of Foreign Asset Control posted all 20 names on its Web site, seen over the weekend, saying the suspects "have been named as specially designated global terrorists."

Among the Malaysians were explosives expert Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top, key suspects in the Aug. 5 attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people.

Five of the other Malaysians listed are among more than 70 suspected militants currently being held at a northern Malaysian prison center under the Internal Security Act, a security law that allows indefinite detention without trial.

Among the suspects in custody is Yazid Sufaat, who is accused of allowing al-Qaeda operatives and two of the hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the US to use his apartment on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur for meetings in 2000.

Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network and has been blamed for a number of bombings in Asia, including the nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, on Oct. 12 last year that killed 202 people, and the Marriott attack.

A statement by Snow on Friday said that since the attacks on Sept. 11, the US and its allies have "designated" 305 people and entities as terrorists and supporters of terrorism, and have frozen more than US$136.7 million in assets worldwide.

The US move means that the "assets of these individuals will be frozen and financial institutions will not be able to continue to have financial relations with them," Snow said.

The US Office of Foreign Asset Control's statement identified the 10 Malaysian suspects as: Sulaiman bin Abas, Azahari bin Husin, Amran bin Mansour, Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir, Abdul Manaf Kasmuri, Zulkifli Marzuki, Yazid Sufaat, Noordin Mohamed Top, Wan Min Wan Mat and Zaini Zakaria.
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