The U.S. Treasury has released its latest Report to Congress on Assets in the United States of Terrorist Countries and International Terrorism Program Designees (known are Terrorist Assets Report or TAR).
The amount of blocked funds pertaining to international terrorist organizations and individuals, totaled over $20.7 million in 2007, compared to $16.4 million in 2006. Of that, over $11.3 million constituted assets of Al Qaeda, an increase of almost 46 percent over the level blocked as of the end of 2006.
In May 2008, the U.N. Monitoring Team reported that $85 million of Al Qaeda related funds had been frozen worldwide by 36 countries.
According to the U.S. Treasury, “The increase in blocked terrorist organization assets in 2007 is due to new or additional blockings, interest paid on blocked funds, and increased share price on certain blocked securities.”
As of December 31, 2007, a total of 478 individuals and entities had been identified or designated and remain listed as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists”, including 42 organizations or groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Department of State.
