Britain Freezes Taliban Overseas AssetsBritain said on Monday that it has frozen more than 60 million pounds (about US$88 million) of Britain-based assets which have been linked to Afghanistan's Taliban regime.The actions included a "substantial" amount located in a European bank in London, the Treasury said, without giving any further details of the act. Some of the money was frozen before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. The Treasury said Britain acted under a United Nations Security Council resolution adopted in October 1999. The U.N. sanctions order all states to freeze the Taliban's overseas assets and ban flights owned, leased or operated by the Taliban from taking off or landing. The British government is also understood to be considering new legislation to enable police to monitor bank accounts and freeze any suspect funds at the start of an investigation. Meanwhile, Chancellor Gordon Brown is expected to confirm tough sanctions to seize funds from terrorist groups, in a speech to the Labor Party conference in Brighton on Monday. Local report said Brown is to tell delegates that ready access to money is the "lifeblood of terrorism" and call upon all nations to ensure there is no safe hiding place for terrorists or their cash. The news comes as Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans for emergency legislation to close the net on terror suspects. These will include measures to tighten up the asylum laws, speed up the extradition process and to stop currency exchanges being used to launder money for terrorism and drug trafficking. |
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