APEC unveils plan to sever terror funds
APEC unveils plan to sever terror funds
Glenn Somerville, Reuters, Los Cabos, Mexico
Finance ministers from around the world unveiled a plan on Friday
to cut off funds to extremists, pledging to boost efforts to
investigate money launderers and the financing of terror.
The ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
also said the global economic recovery was under way, but
acknowledged that doubts about the strength and speed of the
recovery remained.
"It is the view of the finance ministers that we should pursue
and continue the prosecution of the financial war on terrorism,"
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told a news conference.
The drive to crack down on terror financing is directly aimed
at al Qaeda, the organization of Saudi-born militant Osama bin
Laden that Washington blames for the Sept. 11 attacks on the
United States that killed about 3,000 people. The U.S. has moved
to cut al Qaeda's funding sources.
Finance ministers, who were joined on Friday by Mexican
President Vicente Fox, hammered out the plan in a second day
behind closed doors and under heavy guard.
The ministers did not disclose many details of the plan but
said it included clamping down on the hawala money-exchange
system used widely in the Middle East and elsewhere for
transferring funds in a hard-to-trace way. The proposals will be
ready for political leaders, including U.S. President George W.
Bush, to endorse at a summit in Los Cabos late next month.
O'Neill said as many as 9,500 people had been arrested
globally since last September on suspicion of activities
supporting terror and he hinted more were coming.
"It's an important fact that lots of people have been
identified and action taken and that process goes on," O'Neill
said. "You will see more of it in coming weeks."
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States and other
nations froze more than US$112 million in assets Washington said
were tied to funding terrorism worldwide. But in the past eight
months, only $10 million in additional funds had been blocked,
according to a U.N. report critical of the effort.
Some of the money has been linked to charitable and
nongovernmental organizations, a fact recognized by the APEC
ministers.
The two-day finance ministers' meeting was dominated by the
discussion about curbing terror finances, although concerns about
the global economic expansion came up.
The APEC quest to deal a blow to money laundering was
questioned, given that three members of the group -- Russia, the
Philippines and Indonesia -- are all on a blacklist from the G-7
sponsored and Paris-based Financial Action Task Force for being
laggards in stopping money laundering.
Mexican Finance Minister Francisco Gil said the apparent
contradiction did not mean there was no will to fight money
laundering.
"I think there is money laundering going on everywhere, in
every single country. Our goal is to find where it is occurring
and combat it," Gil said.
APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia,
Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.