US: The Bush administration is planning new measures that would target the US assets of anyone conducting business with a handful of Iranian, North Korean and Syrian companies believed by Washington to be involved in weapons programmes, US officials have confirmed to the Washington Post.
The latest action is outlined in a draft executive order administration officials are hoping Mr Bush will sign before attending the Group of Eight summit in Scotland on Saturday. Officials said the order's success would rely heavily on US intelligence and is modelled in part on measures the government took against al-Qaeda's finances shortly after September 11th, 2001.
According to an internal memo, it would provide a new tool in efforts to stop trafficking in weapons of mass destruction "by authorising the blocking or 'freezing' of assets of WMD proliferators and their supporters, and thereby prohibiting US persons from engaging in transactions with them".
The effort would begin by targeting eight entities, seven of which are suspected of working on missile programmes, and not on chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. According to a government list obtained by the Post, three companies identified are North Korean; four are Iranian, including the country's energy department; and one is a Syrian government research facility. Three of the eight companies have been targeted previously by US sanctions, as have most Iranian government agencies. None is subject to any international sanctions, and the entities freely conduct business with companies around the world.
But the draft executive order goes far beyond previous measures by threatening the US assets of individuals or companies, including foreign banks, that do business with those on the list.
"If there is a bank in some European capital that is participating in working with one of the entities and that bank has some assets in the US, it is conceivable that some action could be taken to the bank's assets here," said one senior official with knowledge of the order's details. In particular, Russian and Chinese companies, which do enormous business with Iran and North Korea, could be affected by the new strategy, officials said.
In the late 90s a move by Congress to enact similar legislation in relation to trading with Cuba provoked considerable anger among the US's allies who complained both at the extraterritorial scope of the act and the fact that their companies were being targeted for acts that were not illegal where undertaken.
A presidential commission that reviewed failings of the prewar intelligence on Iraq made recommendations to improve intelligence-gathering and halt trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.
The commission found US intelligence knows "disturbingly little" about weapons activities in Iran and North Korea. Administration officials said the lack of hard evidence accounted for the limited number of companies targeted.
Administration officials declined to discuss publicly the "WMD Proliferation Financing Executive Order", saying they do not confirm details or discuss such decisions before they are signed by the president.
The Bush administration has sought to portray itself as leading the global fight against proliferators, and officials said they want to use the G-8 summit to highlight their successes.
But the intelligence failings on Iraq might make it difficult to convince allies that US information on the companies is solid enough for them to sign on to the programme. - (LA Times-Washington Post)