*EPF203 10/01/2002
Text: U.S. Blocks Assets of Four More Al-Qaeda Members
(Individuals implicated in 9/11 attacks, says Germany) (330)

As part of its ongoing campaign to shut down the flow of money to terrorist organizations, the United States is blocking the assets of four individuals identified by German authorities as members of the al-Qaeda terror network, the U.S. Treasury Department announced.

All four individuals -- two of whom are in custody -- have been implicated in the German investigation of the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States, according to a September 30 Treasury Department news release.

Following is the text of the release:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of the Treasury
Office of Public Affairs
September 30, 2002

TREASURY STATEMENT REGARDING DESIGNATION OF AL-QAEDA OPERATIVES IDENTIFIED BY THE GERMAN AUTHORITIES

Today, the United States is taking coordinated action with the international community to identify and impose financial sanctions on those who form part of the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The Treasury Department is doing its part to block the property of four additional individuals, all of whom have been implicated in the German investigation of the 9/11 attacks. Today's action furthers the ongoing efforts to shut down identified terrorist financing networks using targeted freezing actions under domestic and international law.

The four individuals named today have been identified, on the basis of extensive investigations by the German authorities, as members of the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany. According to information provided to the U.S. government, it appears they knew, associated with, supported and in some cases shared living space with three of the terrorists who were on board those planes: Mohammed Atta, Marwan Alshehhi, and Ziad Jarrah.

At present, one of the four named individuals, Mounir El Motassadeq, is under arrest in Germany. Another, Ramzi Binalshibh, is in U.S. custody, having been recently captured in Pakistan. The other two, Zakarya Essabar and Said Bahaji, remain fugitives from justice. The government of Germany has frozen their assets already. We welcome the German Government's referral of these individuals' names to the United Nations Sanctions Committee because the referral effectively cuts off their access to the global financial system and the use of any accounts in their names.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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