Skip to main content
CNN.com /TRANSCRIPTS
CNN TV
EDITIONS
SERVICES
CNN TV
EDITIONS


CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

America Strikes Back: Treasury Secretary O'Neill, Others Address Press

Aired October 12, 2001 - 09:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAUL ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We take you live to Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill as he briefs us on the latest names added to their list of frozen assets.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

PAUL O'NEILL, TREASURY SECRETARY: ...we took the next step in the financial war. Together, Secretary Powell and I notified all financial institutions in the United States to block the assets of 39 additional persons and entities that are either wanted terrorists or who are known to financially support terrorism.

The list includes businesses and charitable organizations that funnel money to the Al Qaeda terrorist network. U.S. assets of all 22 of the FBI's most wanted terrorists are now subject to this blocking order. Under the executive order signed by the president on September 24, all U.S. citizens and businesses are prohibited from doing business with the people and organizations on this list.

We coordinated this blocking order with our allies around the world, and many of them institutes blocking orders today as well. Together with the State Department we built an international coalition to disrupt the terrorist-financing network.

This list will continue to grow as we share information between nations and develop an increasingly clear understanding of the complex network of terrorist financing. We're determined to deny terrorists the resources to carry out their acts of evil.

Thank you very much.

And as was indicated, Undersecretary Taylor and Undersecretary Gurule and General Counsel David Aufhauser will answer your detailed questions. Thank you.

JIMMY GURULE, UNDERSECRETARY FOR ENFORCEMENT: I want to join Secretary O'Neill in thanking all of you for coming today.

As the secretary has stated, 39 additional names have been added to the president's September 24 executive order. In addition to the 21 new names listed here today, listed to my left, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has also instructed U.S. banks to freeze the assets of 18 of the 22 FBI's most wanted terrorists. The remaining four have already been named by the president in the annex to the September 24 executive order.

When the president decided to take action against the terrorists' financial infrastructure, he galvanized the world community to take unprecedented steps to disrupt the financial networks of terrorism. Today we add another brick to the international wall we are building against the funding of terrorist acts around the world.

We are determined to paralyze the terrorists' ability to move funds through the international banking system, and we are using every tool at our disposal to cut off the various sources of funding for their atrocities.

The civilized world has spoken with one voice: Individuals and organizations that infuse these terrorist organizations with money are no better than the terrorists perpetrating these heinous acts. We will shut down their fundraising and expel them from the global financial system. Today we have taken a giant step forward in that effort.

The list you have here today is the product of an intense process of information-sharing among federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. As we combine our knowledge, we are developing an understanding of the vast and complicated network that funded the evil acts of September 11.

We will follow the money trail to identify all of those who provide support for terrorism wherever they may be located. We will block accounts here in the United States when funds are found. And when funds are found abroad, our allies will join us in this effort to block assets and deny terrorists the resources they need to inflict terror on the United States and any other nation.

Let me address for a moment some of the specific entities that are mentioned on the list.

There are six entities and 33 individuals. Additional names will be added to the list in the weeks and months to come.

As has been widely reported in the news media, the terrorists often use creative methods to transfer funds internationally without detection. For instance, some honey producers and other related businesses in the Middle East have been known to act as vehicles or funnels for moving funds surreptitiously.

ZAHN: You are all hearing the message loud and clear: The government is determined to paralyze the ability of terrorists to move money throughout the banking system here and in other countries, both the officials you heard from this morning, including Treasury Secretary O'Neill, making it very clear that Americans are prohibited from doing business with any of the 22 men that we have seen on the FBI Most Wanted list. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


 
 
 
 


 Search   

Back to the top