US freezes assets of US branches of Saudi charity

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 20, 2004

US freezes assets of US branches of Saudi charity

The US Treasury Department has directed banks in the country to freeze the assets of the US branches of a Saudi charity suspected to have links with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

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The US Treasury Department has directed banks in the country to freeze the assets of the US branches of a Saudi charity suspected to have links with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

The move involved the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation's operations in Ashland, Oregon, and Springfield, Missouri, Richard Newcomb, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), said on Feb. 19.

The property belonging to Al-Haramain had been blocked by the OFAC "to ensure the preservation of its assets pending further OFAC investigation," the department said.

Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, Al-Haramain is one of the Middle East country's largest charities, and the assets of its branches in six countries have been put on a US blacklist of alleged terror financiers.

Al-Haramain has denied it has any links to terrorist activities.

US federal agents conducted a search of property purchased for the foundation in Ashland on Wednesday, as part of a criminal investigation into possible violations of relevant laws.

The action was part of a probe into Al-Haramain's operations worldwide, to help the US government determine if the foundation's US branches had any relations with al-Qaeda, according to the department.

Source: Xinhua

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