The US State Department has added the UDA and LVF to a visa blacklist that will keep their members or affiliates out of the country.
The State Department today announced the addition of nine organisations to its list, bringing to 45 the total number of groups, which include businesses and known extremist organizations, on the US Terrorist Exclusion List.
The newly named entities are: , the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the Al Taqwa Trade, Property and Industry Company, Bank Al Taqwa, Nada Management Organization, Youssef M. Nada and Company Gesellschaft MBH, Ummah Tameer E-Nau (UTN), the Afghan Support Committee and the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society.
Many of the groups are already subject to US financial sanctions having been identified as supporters of terrorist elements but the new designation will bar their members, employees and officers from receiving US visas.
The department did not provide details about the organizations although the first four are affiliated with Youssef Nada who is believed to have used his businesses to support Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The Ummah Tameer E-Nau is a Pakistani charity that US officials accuse of providing nuclear, biological and chemical weapons expertise to al-Qaeda. The assets of the Afghan Support Committee, a Jalalabad, Pakistan-based group and the Afghan and Pakistani offices of the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, a Kuwait-based organization, were designated al-Qaeda backing entities by the US Treasury Department on January 9.
The Terrorist Exclusion List was created by the USA Patriot Act which became law in October 2001 as part of President George W. Bush's push to boost security after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. Secretary of State Colin Powell named the first 36 groups to the list last December.
AFP