The United States has asked Yemeni authorities to examine all suspect bank accounts that could belong to terrorist groups, a banking source told AFP late Monday, October 2. "Yemeni authorities have received a request from the Americans to check all suspect investments, bank accounts and deposits that could be linked to terrorist activities," said the banker, who requested anonymity.
"Financial authorities have started a series of verifications in the 10 banks operating in Yemen without locating any accounts linked to fundamentalist persons, organizations or groups," he said.
"These verifications are continuing," he said, adding that they were part of measures Washington requested of Yemen following the September 11 hijacked jetliner terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Late last month, Yemen reportedly also launched a crackdown on "Arab Afghans" believed to have links to Saudi-born dissident Usama Bin Ladin, Washington's prime suspect in the September 11 attacks in the United States. Bin Ladin has also been linked to a suicide attack against the destroyer USS Cole in Aden port in southern Yemen last October in which 17 American servicemen died.
The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Friday for a US-sponsored resolution that obliges member states to crack down on the sources of financial and logistical support for terrorist groups. ― (AFP, Sanaa)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
