US arrests 2 suspected Hamas members

US authorities have arrested two suspected members of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Friday.

Muhammad Hamid Khalil Salah was arrested in Chicago and Abdelhaleem Hasan Abdelraziq Ashqar was arrested in the Washington area on Thursday night, Ashcroft said at a press conference.

The two, together with Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, were charged with supporting Hamas, which has been designated by the US government as a terrorist organization, he said. An arrest warrant for Marzook had been issued, who is now believed to live in Damascus.

"Three men who allegedly ran a US-based terrorist recruiting and financing cell associated with foreign terrorist organization Hamas were indicted for their roles in a 15-year racketeering conspiracy in the United States and abroad," Ashcroft said.

They were also charged with money laundering and racketeering. The indictment against the three was filed in Chicago and was unsealed Friday.

"This cell allegedly financed the activities of a terrorist organization that was murdering innocent victims abroad, including American citizens," and the crimes went back as far as 1988, he said.

Source: Xinhua