Report: US freezes Hizbullah assets
Washington Post reports that Bush administration moved against central fundraising arm of terror group, made it illegal for Americans to contribute to organization
The Bush administration moved on Tuesday against a key fundraising arm of Hizbullah, and ordered a freeze on its assets, the Washington Post reported. In addition the administration made it illegal for Americans to contribute to the organization.
The United States regards Hizbullah as a terrorist organization, although the European Union has refused to join in that designation, partially due to the group's array of social services, the Post reported.
The action against the Islamic Resistance Support Organization was intended in part to demonstrate the link between Hizbullah and terrorist activities. To show proof, the Treasury Department released copies of a receipt issued by the group to a donor, listing projects such as "collection box project for the children and homes," "contribution to the cost of a rocket" and "contribution to the cost of bullets."
"Hizbullah projects an image as a humanitarian organization," the Post quoted Stuart Levey, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, as saying. "This puts the lie to that image. This shows there is no separation, and they raise money for social services and also raise money for terrorism," he added.
