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G-7 Unveils Action Plan to Combat Terrorist Financing
The seven leading industrialized countries (G-7) on Saturday unveiled an integrated, comprehensive Action Plan to block the assets of terrorists and their associates and pledged to work together to deliver real results in combating the scourge of the financing of terrorism.
"We stand united in our commitment to vigorously track down and intercept the assets of terrorists and to pursue the individuals and countries suspected of financing terrorists," G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a final statement.
The ministers and governors from the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan met here to discuss how to fight terrorist financing and boost a flagging global economy in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
In a one-page Action Plan attached to the final statement, the ministers and governors said that more vigorous implementation of international sanctions is critical to cutting off the financing of terrorism.
Apart from implementing two resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council on freezing the funds and financial assets of terrorists, the G-7 ministers and governors said they will work within their governments to consider additional measures and share lists of terrorists to ensure the entire network of terrorist financing is addressed.
They said the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which was set up by the industrialized countries more than a decade ago to deal with money laundering, should play a vital role in fighting the financing of terrorism.
The ministers and governors welcomed an FATF decision to hold an extraordinary plenary meeting in Washington on October 29-30 to expand its mandate to combat terrorist financing.
They also stressed the importance for their countries to enhance sharing of information among financial intelligence units, saying that such cooperation is critical to cutting off the flow of resources to terrorist organizations and their associates.
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