State Department Adds Three Groups to Foreign Terrorist List

(Secretary Powell names three Middle Eastern groups) (760)



Secretary of State Colin Powell has added three Middle Eastern
terrorist groups to the official "Foreign Terrorist Organizations"
list, including the Palestinian militia group al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, the U.S. State Department announced March 27.


The other groups added to the list are Asbat al-Ansar and the Salafist
Group for Call and Combat, said State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher.


"The Salafist Group for Call and Combat is an Algerian armed group
dedicated to the overthrow of the Algerian government and the
imposition of fundamentalist Muslim theocracy," he said during the
regular State Department briefing. "It's an offshoot of the Groupe
Islamique Armee -- the GIA, or Armed Islamic Group, which has
conducted a terrorist campaign in Algeria for over a decade and which
was already on our terrorist list."


Boucher said the other group, the Asbat al-Ansar, is a Sunni Muslim
terrorist organization largely based in Palestinian refugee camps in
Lebanon and has been linked to al-Qaida. "This group is banned in
Lebanon. The government of Lebanon has shared with us valuable
information about the organization," he said.


In a written announcement of the new additions to the list, Powell
said he hopes "this will leave no doubt that the United States
considers terrorism to be unacceptable, regardless of any supposed
political or ideological purpose."


The addition of these three brings to 33 the number of groups the
State Department identifies as foreign terrorist organizations.


Federal law requires that the State Department designate foreign
terrorist organizations every two years, though the secretary of state
has the latitude to add or remove organizations at any time. A 1996
federal law prohibits U.S. citizens from providing terrorist
organizations with any financial or other assistance, and banks and
other U.S. financial institutions must freeze their assets. In
addition, their members are ineligible for U.S. visas.


Following is the text of Powell's announcement:



(begin text)



U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Spokesman

March 27, 2002



Statement by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell



Designation of Three Additional Foreign Terrorist Organizations



Today I am announcing the designation of three additional foreign
terrorist organizations. They are: 'Asbat al-Ansar, the Salafist Group
for Call and Combat, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. The al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigade, whose imminent designation was announced last week,
is also being designated under the authority of two executive orders
blocking terrorist assets, effective today. The designations of these
groups, which were published today in the Federal Register, make it
unlawful for persons in the United States or subject to U.S.
jurisdiction to provide material support or resources to these groups,
require U.S. financial institutions to block assets held by the
groups, and makes representatives, members, and supporters of the
groups ineligible for visas. I designated these three groups, in
consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the
Treasury, after an exhaustive review of these groups' violent
activities.


Today's designations bring to 33 the number of groups on the list of
foreign terrorist organizations designated. Beyond the legal
ramifications of these designations, I hope this will leave no doubt
that the United States considers terrorism to be unacceptable,
regardless of any supposed political or ideological purpose.


(end text)



Following is the list of terrorist organizations:



(begin text)



Foreign Terrorist Organizations

State Department Office of Counterterrorism

Washington, D.C.

March 27, 2002





1.  Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)

2.  Abu Sayyaf Group

3.  Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade

4.  Armed Islamic Group

5.  'Asbat al-Ansar

6.  Aum Shinrikyo

7.  Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)

8.  Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group)

9.  HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)

10. Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)

11. Hizballah (Party of God)

12. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)

13. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed)

14. Al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad)

15. Kahane Chai (Kach)

16. Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

17. Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous)

18. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

19. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)

20. National Liberation Army (ELN)

21. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)

22. Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)

23. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

24. PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)

25. Al-Qaida

26. Real IRA

27. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

28. Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA)

29. Revolutionary Organization 17 November

30. Revolutionary People's Liberation Army/Front (DHKP/C)

31. Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)

32. Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)

33. United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)



(end text)



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