US President George W. Bush froze the financial assets of six top officials of Hamas as well as five European charities said by the American administration to be sending cash to armed Palestinian groups.
Bush said that Palestinians yearning for an independent state must "dismantle the terrorist network."
Bush conveyed he had taken the action to freeze the assets because Hamas claimed responsibility for Tuesday's suicide attack on a packed bus in Jerusalem that killed 20 people.
He directed no criticism toward Israel during a brief question-and-answer session before attending a campaign fund raiser in Seattle.
Bush pledged to continue pushing for peace in the Middle East. "I think it's important for the United States to continue to remain engaged, and I will," Bush said. "We'll just keep working the issue hard and remind people of this important fact, that if people want there to be peace in the Middle East - Palestinians want to see their own state - they've got to dismantle the terrorist network."
The president's executive order applies to assets of the Hamas leaders and the European charities which might be in U.S. banks. Administration officials said they hoped that European nations would also issue orders freezing the assets.
The individuals, according to the Treasury Department are: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas in Gaza; Imad Khalil Al-Alami, a member of the Hamas political bureau in Damascus, Syria; Usama Hamdan, a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon; Khalid Mishaal, head of the Hamas political bureau and executive committee in Damascus; Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy chief of the political bureau in Syria; and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, another political leader in the Gaza Strip.
Bush called on "all nations supportive of peace in the Middle East" to recognize Hamas as a "terrorist" organization and to join the United States in freezing the groups' funds.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will dispatch his deputy, Richard Armitage, to tour several Middle East countries in an attempt to save the road map peace plan, as well as to discuss the situation in Iraq, Israel Radio reported Saturday.
Armitage called on Arab states to pressure Yasser Arafat to give Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas and Security Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan full control over the Palestinian security apparatus, the radio said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
