The US Treasury Department said on Thursday it would freeze the assets of eight "front companies" and five people linked to the former Iraqi regime.

The companies were doing business in support of the fallen Saddam Hussein regime, and served as financial fronts for Saddam Hussein and members of his government, the department said in a statement.

"With this action, we begin the unveiling of Saddam's financialweb around the world. In the coming weeks and months, the TreasuryDepartment plans to take similar actions against other operatives of the former regime," Deputy Treasury Secretary Sam Bodman said at a press briefing.

The US government has submitted the names to be included in a list maintained by the United Nations that would require a global asset search.

The companies were all based outside the United States, and thefive people were all foreign nationals. Three of the companies hadalready been subject to a US asset freeze.

Source: Xinhua