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U.S. links six groups to terrorists

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. State Department announced Monday it plans to freeze the assets of six groups it says have links to terrorists.

The list includes five groups that have sought to prevent a political settlement in Northern Ireland, said the State Department. The groups' tactics have included bombings, kidnappings and killings of Irish nationalists and Protestants who support the peace process, the department said.

The groups, according to the department, are: the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA); he Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF); the Orange Volunteers (OV); the Red Hand Defenders (RHD); and the Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF).

The sixth group is the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO), an armed military organization that advocates the overthrow of the Spanish government and the installation of a Marxist-Leninist regime, the department said. The group, which seeks the removal of all U.S. military forces from Spanish territory, has killed more than 80 people and wounded more than 200 in various attacks since 1975, according to the State Department.

In a statement, State Deputy Spokesman Philip T. Reeker said the designations were made after consultation with Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Last week, the European Union listed the same groups for antiterrorism measures.

The United States appreciated the Europeans' gesture, Reeker said.

"We have consistently said that the fight against terrorism requires international cooperation in the fullest measure," he said. "The secretary's decision supports the important step taken last week by our European partners."

The move to freeze funds was hardly unexpected.

In early December, Treasury Department officials announced it would freeze nearly $2 million in assets of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, accusing it of using some of its funds to subsidize the militant group Hamas. The foundation, the largest Muslim charity in the nation, denied its funds were linked to terrorist activities.

The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was the first organization not associated with the Taliban or al Qaeda to have its assets frozen since September 11.

At the time, U.S. officials said that other organizations in the United States suspected of financing terrorists could have their assets frozen.

"Wait and watch," one high-ranking official said.