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State Department lists terrorist groups

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The al Qaeda network headed by Osama bin Laden -- designated a terrorist group in 1999 by then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright -- remains, as expected, on the State Department list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations released Friday.

"As we embark on a long-term struggle against terrorism, I hope this list will draw the attention of foreign governments across the world to these groups and will encourage those governments to take action," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a written statement.

The United States said six of the 28 groups on the list are linked to bin Laden: al Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Gama'a al-Islamiyya in Egypt, Harakat ul-Mujahidin in Pakistan, and Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines.

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On Friday the State Department issued a statement warning Americans of the danger of travel to the Philippines, and said Abu Sayyaf and other groups in the country "may attack U.S. citizens."

Several Middle East terrorist groups remain on the list, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

By law, U.S. citizens are not allowed to support any designated terrorist organizations and all U.S. financial institutions are required to freeze the groups' assets.

The State Department dropped the Japanese Red Army and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement from its list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

A group's designation lasts two years. The list was reissued Friday because a number of the groups' designations needed to be renewed.

Although officials said Friday's list remains virtually unchanged since the last one issued, the two groups were dropped because they have not committed any terrorist acts since their designation was last renewed.

The Tupac Amaru rebels captured the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima in December 1996, holding 72 hostages for over four months before Peruvian forces stormed the compound, rescuing all but one of the hostages and killing all 14 rebels inside. The State Department said the group has not committed a "significant" act of terrorism since then.

The Japanese Red Army carried out a series of attacks in the 1970s, including the massacre in 1972 at Lod Airport in Israel, two Japanese airliner hijackings and an attempted takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

North Korea remains on the State Department's list of State Sponsors of Terrorism for its harboring of several Japanese Red Army members wanted in Japan.

The Israeli extremist groups Kahane Chai and Kach have been merged into one group, under the name Kahane Chai. Baruch Goldstein, who opened fire on a Hebron mosque in 1994, killing 29 Muslims as they prayed, was linked to the group.

-- From CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel and Producer Elise Labott.