Uzbek group with bin Laden ties added to U.S. terrorist list

September 16, 2000
Web posted at: 9:39 AM HKT (0139 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States is adding to its list of international terrorist organizations the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which has links to multimillionaire Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday in a statement the movement "has threatened the lives of civilians and regional security and undermined the rule of law."

He said the group was responsible for criminal acts of terrorism against Uzbek citizens and has also kidnapped four American mountain climbers who were held hostage last month before they managed to escape.

"The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has also publicly called for the violent overthrow of the government of Uzbekistan and has claimed responsibility for ongoing armed incursions into Uzbekistan and (neighboring) Kyrgyzstan" in central Asia, Boucher said.

In notifying Congress that the movement was being added to a list of 28 organizations sponsoring terrorism, Boucher said this now makes it illegal for American citizens or persons residing in the United States to provide funding or material support to the movement.

The Treasury also is authorized to block any assets the organization may have in the United States, although State Department officials doubt it raises or keeps money here.

U.S. embassies also can deny members of the organization or their representatives visas, and they can be deported.

Boucher said the State Department was authorized to make new designations at any time or to remove a group from the terrorist list. U.S. law says the list must be reviewed every two years.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the movement is part of bin Laden's global terrorism network known as Al-Qaida, Arabic for military base.

Other members are the Islamic Group and Al-Jihad of Egypt, the armed Islamic Group of Algeria, Harakat ul-Mujahidin of Pakistan and opposition groups in Saudi Arabia.

In a report last month, the research service said bin-Laden, whom the United States has accused of blowing up two American embassies in Africa in August 1988, is steadily eclipsing Iran and other Middle East countries in sponsoring terrorism.

Uzbekistan's ambassador to the United States, Sodiq Safaef, said the decision to add the movement to the terrorist last was "extremely positive."

"It shows that these are not freedom fighters as they claim but skillful, well-financed and well-trained and well-armed killers," he said.

The Uzbek government holds the Islamic movement responsible for five car bombings in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, in February 1999. Uzbekistan claims the group was trying to kill President Islam Karimov, who has banned religious political parties.

The movement's objective is to overthrow the secular government in Uzbekistan and in other former Soviet republics in central Asia.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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