inance ministers and central bank chiefs from the world's leading economies on Saturday vowed new measures in their drive to track down groups that fund terrorism and channel money through the global financial system.
"We pledge to work together to deliver real results in combating the scourge of the financing of terrorism," the Group of Seven finance ministers said in a statement issued after their first face-to-face meeting since the Sept. 11 attacks on the US.
The tough-guy rhetoric continued as G7 finance officials gathered to brief reporters on their progress.
PHOTO: AFP
"We have decided today that there should be no safe hiding place for terrorists and for the financing of terrorists in any part of the world," said British finance minister Gordon Brown, adding that the G7 effort would "cut off ... the lifeblood of terrorism."
The G7 plans to convert an existing anti-money laundering agency into a body that would go after groups such as the al-Qaeda organization of Osama bin Laden, whom the US accuses of masterminding the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
As they put a brave face on the outlook for the world economy in the wake of the last month's attacks, the ministers said the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force should meet as soon as possible to decide how it could widen the scope of its work.
Set up in 1989 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the agency has until now been charged with trying to track down money-laundering through the international financial system by criminal gangs, mostly drug traffickers.
But now, as a result of calls by several of the organization's member countries, it will be part of what President George W. Bush has called a "strike against the financial foundations of the global terror network."
The task force announced on Friday it was convening emergency closed-door talks in Washington at the end of October to kick its new mission off.
In addition to backing a new mandate for the task force, the G7 called on other international organizations to play a role in "fighting the financing of terrorism."
"We urge the International Monetary Fund to accelerate its efforts, in close relation with the Financial Stability Forum, to assess the adequacy of supervision in offshore financial centers and provide the necessary technical assistance to strengthen their integrity," the statement said.
The Financial Stability Forum is a G7-sponsored group of authorities charged with maintaining stability in leading financial centers.
"With enthusiasm, without reservation, the G7 are together in their determination that we are going to pursue the financial and economic support mechanisms of terrorists and terrorist organizations like they've never been pursued before," US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said.
The G7 ministers, who normally hold separate briefings after their meetings, deliberately broke with tradition and held a joint news conference. German Finance Ministers Hans Eichel said the move was designed to highlight how closely the countries are cooperating in the aftermath of the attacks.
The US has named 19 countries so far that have agreed to freeze the assets of bin Laden and his associates who are on a list issued by the UN two years ago when it slapped sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which has provided bin Laden shelter.
The Bush administration is working on a new list of a further 88 names and organizations whose assets it would like to see seized.
Experts warn, however, that progress is likely to be slow because searching for clues about terrorist funds in all the millions of bank transfers and accounts that make up the world financial system is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The task force has been campaigning for over 10 years for tighter rules against money laundering.
Ironically, however, a report it released this summer showed the US had been lax in introducing many of its recommendations for combating dirty money. Critics say prior to the attacks, the Bush administration had shown little interest in the issue of money laundering or another of the organization's efforts to clamp down on offshore tax havens.
It is now racing to make up for lost time.
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