U.S. Freezes Assets Held by Three Islamic Charities

Three Islamic charities are among 27 groups and individuals whose

financial assets were frozen by President Bush in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Those on the list have ties to Osama bin Laden, according to the administration, which has identified the Saudi millionaire as the prime suspect in the attacks.

The three charities in question are the Al-Rasheed Trust, in Karachi, Pakistan, which says it has provided bread to needy Afghans; the Wafa Humanitarian Organization, in Saudi Arabia, which says it specializes in rebuilding that nation’s war-damaged infrastructure; and Makhtab Al-Khidamat/Al Kifah, a precursor to Mr. bin Laden’s support network, Al Qaeda, which aided former Afghan rebels.

Mr. Bush said he would ask Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill to determine how much money the charities and others whose assets were frozen have in U.S. banks.

Zakir Mahmood, chief executive of Habib Bank, a state-owned institution in Pakistan, told The Washington Post that it had frozen three accounts held by the Al-Rasheed Trust but that the value of the trust’s holdings was not large.

“Suffice it to say it’s not in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

Muhammad Abdullah, a spokesman for the trust, told a French news service that the organization had no assets in U.S. banks. He denied that the group had links to terrorist organizations or to the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban has been accused of sheltering Mr. bin Laden.

President Bush’s order not only froze assets and transactions in U.S. banks, but also gave the Treasury Department authority to freeze the assets and transactions of any foreign bank that fails to seize the accounts of those on the list or share information about them.