23 August 1998
Source: http://www.usia.gov/current/news/latest/98082207.tlt.html?/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

USIS Washington File
_________________________________

22 August 1998

### FACT SHEET: USAMA BIN LADIN

    (Details background of terrorist network chieftain) (850)

    Washington -- The State Department has released a fact sheet detailing
    the background and activities of Usama bin Ladin, the chief of a
    terrorist network blamed for the bombings of the US embassies in
    Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

    Following is the State Department text:

    (begin text)

    Fact Sheet: Usama bin Ladin

    As released by the Coordinator for Counterterrorism,
    US Department of State,
    August 21, 1998

    On August 20, 1998, the US military struck a number of facilities of
    the terrorist network associated with Usama bin Ladin. Today bin
    Ladin's network leads, funds and inspires a wide range of Islamic
    extremist groups that perpetrate acts of terrorism around the world.

    The bin Ladin network is multi-national and has established a
    worldwide presence. Senior figures in the network are also senior
    leaders in other Islamic terrorist networks, including those
    designated by the Department of State as foreign terrorist groups,
    such as the Egyptian al-Gama'At al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian Islamic
    Jihad. Bin Ladin and his network seek to provoke a war between Islam
    and the West and the overthrow of existing Muslim governments, such as
    Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

    Our decision to attack facilities belonging to Usama bin Ladin's
    network is the result of convincing intelligence that his group,
    working with other terrorist groups, was behind the heinous attacks of
    August 7 against the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam,
    Tanzania. Elements of bin Ladin's network were also involved last week
    in a plot to attack other US embassies.

    Moreover, on August 19, an Islamic front created by the bin Ladin
    network, and calling itself the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against
    the Jews and Crusaders, praised the bombings of our embassies and
    warned that, "America will face a black fate...strikes will continue
    from everywhere, and Islamic groups will appear one after the other to
    fight American interests."

    These latest atrocities in Africa are not the first occasion in which
    members of bin Ladin's network have carried out acts of terrorism
    against America and its friends. The list is a long one:

    They conspired to kill US servicemen in Yemen who were on their way to
    participate in the humanitarian mission "Operation Restore Hope" in
    Somalia in 1992.

    They plotted the deaths of American and other peacekeepers in Somalia
    who were there to deliver food to starving Muslim people.

    Bin Ladin's network assisted Egyptian terrorists who tried to
    assassinate Egyptian President Mubarak in 1995 and who have killed
    dozens of tourists in Egypt in recent years.

    The Egyptian Islamic Jihad, one of the key groups in the network,
    conducted a car bombing against the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan in
    1995 that killed over 20 Egyptians and Pakistanis.

    Members of bin Ladin's network plotted to blow up US airliners in the
    Pacific and separately conspired to kill the Pope.

    His followers bombed a joint US and Saudi military training mission in
    Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1995.

    Bin Ladin's network has publicly and repeatedly articulated a clear
    and violent anti-US agenda:

    In August 1996, bin Ladin issued a "declaration of war" against the
    United States.

    In February 1998, bin Ladin stated "If someone can kill an American
    soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters."

    In February of this year, the bin Ladin network's World Islamic Front
    for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders declared its intention to
    attack Americans and our allies, including civilians, anywhere in the
    world.

    In May of this year, bin Ladin stated at a press conference in
    Afghanistan that we would see the results of his threats "in a few
    weeks."

    Bin Ladin's Network

    Bin Ladin's goal in his own words is to "unite all Muslims and
    establish a government which follows the rule of the caliphs," which
    he believes he can accomplish only by overthrowing nearly all Muslim
    governments, driving Western influence from those countries and
    eventually to abolishing state boundaries.
    The bin Ladin network supports terrorists in Afghanistan, Bosnia,
    Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen, and now Kosovo. It also trains
    members of terrorist networks from such diverse countries as the
    Philippines, Algeria and Eritrea.

    Additional Background

    Bin Ladin, the youngest son of a wealthy Saudi businessman, developed
    a worldwide organization in the 1970s to recruit Muslim terrorists for
    the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. In 1988, he formed a
    network devoted to terror and subversion. He returned to his home in
    Saudi Arabia in 1989, but the Government of Saudi Arabia expelled him
    the following year for his continued support of terrorist groups.

    Bin Ladin then went to Sudan from which he carried on his support for
    terrorist operations. At the urging of the United States, and
    following the attempted assassination of President Mubarak of Egypt,
    in which bin Ladin was involved and in which the Sudanese Government
    was complicit, the Government of Sudan expelled bin Ladin in 1996.
    However, he has maintained considerable business interests and
    facilities in Sudan.

    (end text)

    Source: http://www.fedworld.gov/pub/tel/t11edit.txt

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    WHAT'S NEW -  OFAC Information Update on Internet World Wide Web
    Page - August 21, 1998

    The President has signed a new Executive Order effective 12:01
    a.m. EDT August 21, 1998 blocking the assets of "USAMA BIN
    MUHAMMAD BIN AWAD BIN LADIN (A.K.A.: USAMA BIN LADIN)," "ISLAMIC
    ARMY (A.K.A.: AL-QAIDA; ISLAMIC SALVATION FOUNDATION; THE GROUP
    FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE HOLY SITES; THE ISLAMIC ARMY FOR THE
    LIBERATION OF THE HOLY PLACES; THE WORLD ISLAMIC FRONT FOR JIHAD
    AGAINST JEWS AND CRUSADERS)," "ABU HAFS AL-MASRI," AND "RIFA'I
    AHMAD TAHA MUSA (A.K.A.: 'ABD-AL-'IZ; HAI AHMAD ABD-AL-WAHAB; ABU
    YASIR; a.k.a. MUHAMMAD 'ALI 'ABD ALLAH; a.k.a. SALAH 'ALI AL-
    KAMEL; a.k.a. RIFA'I AHMAD TAHA; a.k.a. THABIT 'IZ)," as
    terrorists who threaten the Middle East peace process for
    purposes of Executive Order 12947.  A copy of the Executive Order
    amending Executive Order 12947 follows as APPENDIX A to this
    "What's New" file.  Their names are being incorporated into the
    various versions of OFAC's list of Specially Designated Nationals
    and Blocked Persons as [SDT]s, but updated SDN files will not be
    available at this Website until Monday, August 24.  OFAC's
    brochure on Terrorism [PDF 73K] will also be updated at that time.

    [Snip adminstrative information]

    ----------------------------------------

    APPENDIX A:
                             EXECUTIVE ORDER

                              - - - - - - -

          PROHIBITING TRANSACTIONS WITH TERRORISTS WHO THREATEN
                TO DISRUPT THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS

         By the authority vested in me as President by the
    Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
    including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
    (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C.
    1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
         I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States
    of America, in order to take additional steps with respect
    to grave acts of violence committed by foreign terrorists that
    disrupt the Middle East peace process and the national emergency
    described and declared in Executive Order 12947 of January 23,
    1995, hereby order:
         Section 1. The title of the Annex to Executive Order 12947
    of January 23, 1995, is revised to read "TERRORISTS WHO THREATEN
    TO DISRUPT THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS."
         Sec. 2. The Annex to Executive Order 12947 of January 23,
    1995, is amended by adding thereto the following persons in
    appropriate alphabetical order:
         Usama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Ladin (a.k.a. Usama bin
    Ladin)
         Islamic Army (a.k.a. Al-Qaida, Islamic Salvation Foundation,
    The Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places, The World
    Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, and The Group
    for the Preservation of the Holy Sites)      Abu Hafs al-Masri
         Rifa'i Ahmad Taha Musa
         Sec. 3. Nothing contained in this order shall create
    any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable
    by any party against the United States, its agencies or
    instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other
    person.
         Sec. 4. (a) This order is effective at 12:01 a.m., eastern
    daylight time on August 21, 1998.
         (b)  This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and
    published in the Federal Register.

    For more on foreign assets control see the US Treasury Department's
    electronic library:

    http://www.fedworld.gov/pub/tel/tel.htm

    Source: http://www.usia.gov/current/news/latest/98082205.tlt.html?/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

    22 August 1998

    TRANSCRIPT: WHITE HOUSE DAILY BRIEFING, AUGUST 22, 1998

    (McCurry cites effort to move against terrorist assets) (3370)

    Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts -- Press Secretary Mike McCurry says
    that President Clinton's August 22 executive order to the Treasury
    Department to block all financial transactions between the bin Ladin
    terrorist group members and US companies and individuals is part of
    the "sustained effort that the President has in mind when it comes to
    dealing with terrorism in this new world that we live in."

    In a news briefing that day at the President's vacation retreat,
    McCurry explained the move as part of the effort "to use information
    about the economic infrastructure of these groups to attack their
    activity."

    He denied a reporter's suggestion that this action "is largely
    symbolic."

    The financial action against the bin Ladin group, McCurry said,
    enables the US government to make "an assessment here in the United
    States of what assets, if any, they might have domestically. But then
    we can go to foreign governments and request that they do as we have
    done."

    According to McCurry, "as we have this information and know more about
    the transactions, we can go to these governments and ask them to begin
    to trace out what they know about the financial holdings of these
    groups or how they do business or where they do transactions or how
    they move money from place to place.

    "So this is really the beginning of a process, this is something that
    will now -- will allow us to go to other governments in the days and
    weeks ahead and continue to work to break down the financial
    infrastructure of these groups," McCurry said. He added that the
    United States will begin working through the Treasury Department and
    US diplomats "to contact the financial entities overseas that we think
    might play a role in giving financial support to this network."

    Following is the White House transcript:

    THE WHITE HOUSE
    Office of the Press Secretary
    (Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts)

    August 22, 1998

    PRESS BRIEFING BY MIKE MCCURRY

    Edgartown Elementary School
    Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

    11:12 A.M. EDT

    MR. MCCURRY: I don't know why I agreed to do this on camera, but I
    guess it's going to be easier -- easier than doing back-to-back
    interviews, doing it on camera. Okay, Saturday. The President, as most
    of you know, is finally on vacation, at last, and is taking the day
    just to really, truly relax and enjoy himself. He's had a lot on his
    mind this week on multiple fronts, and so today is a day that he
    really, I think, is finally doing what he came up here to do, which is
    to relax and enjoy himself a bit.

    He's not planning to do anything for the balance of the day. There was
    some report from out at the farm that he might go out tonight or Mrs.
    Clinton and Chelsea might go out, or some combination of them might go
    out. I think everyone knows that Mrs. Clinton and Chelsea have been
    here a couple of days, Chelsea has been out seeing her friends from
    Stanford that are here and other kids that she knows that are up here
    vacationing, and I wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Clinton got out at
    some point today.

    I think the President had a very busy week and a somewhat stressful
    week, and so I think he's planning on just going down and taking a few
    days off. So he may stay in -- or, depending on how he feels later, he
    may go out and play some golf tomorrow. So he's really definitely in
    vacation mode.

    The President is, either right now or shortly, going to talk to
    National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and get just an update on what
    some of our latest information is with respect to the military action
    that's been taken. Obviously, the President is well aware of the
    efforts we're making on other fronts,

    Including the financial front that you heard about earlier today. The
    President will get a report based on military intelligence that --
    there are somewhat better imagery now of the six camps that were
    attacked and that has increased our confidence in the assessment that
    you all were given yesterday.

    I think the President will hear that we have severely damaged the
    ability of the Osama bin Ladin network to train and operate from these
    camps that were attacked. We're now more confident that the damage at
    each of the six camps is moderate to severe.

    The President will also get an update on international reaction that's
    been assembled for him down in Washington, and beyond that, I don't
    think there's a lot of new information. It still, as you heard from
    Mr. Berger yesterday, going to be a matter of days before we have a
    complete assessment. So this still is in the nature of a preliminary
    assessment. But as we get more information and see more, we're able to
    verify some of the initial judgments that the Pentagon was able to
    make about the attack.

    Q: So, Mike, what you seem to be saying is that these reports that
    maybe we missed a camp or two are not accurate, we hit every target
    that we wanted to hit.

    MCCURRY: The information that Mr. Berger will convey to the President
    is that each of the six camps sustained some level of damage and the
    assessment at this point is it's likely to be moderate to severe in
    each case.

    Q: Do we have any more idea as to whether there actually was this
    meeting going on that was the trigger for this action?

    MCCURRY: I don't know if we have any further information on that or on
    individual human casualties. There's a lot, by the way, a lot that you
    will see reported and a lot of people making a lot of statements on
    behalf of a lot of people, but I would take all of that with some
    measure of skepticism.

    Q: Mike, you used the word severe. Yesterday the assessment was
    moderate to heavy; today you're saying moderate to severe. Are you
    suggesting that the damage is even worse, or are you just confirming
    yesterday's assessment?

    MCCURRY: No, I'm not -- this is confirming and giving us more
    confidence in the assessment that we gave you in the preliminary
    yesterday. I'm not playing with terms of art there.

    Q: You just said we should take with some measure of skepticism some
    of these reports. Are you referring to the phone calls ostensibly
    being made by spokespeople for bin Ladin?

    MCCURRY: That's correct. That and other reports that are occurring. A
    candid statement would be that we don't know a lot about individuals
    who may or may not have been at that camp. We just don't have solid
    information on that, and

    I think you have to be skeptical about information that you're hearing
    that is coming from other sources.

    Q: But do you folks take seriously the threats that are apparently
    being directed against the United States by bin Ladin?

    MCCURRY: Absolutely. This is a very dangerous group of people. They
    are very likely going to continue the type of work that they have done
    and Americans will continue to be at risk. One attack is not the kind
    of sustained effort that the President has in mind when it comes to
    dealing with terrorism in this new world that we live in. It is going
    to require the kinds of tools that the President announced today and
    the ability to use information about the economic infrastructure of
    these groups to attack their activity. But they are going to continue
    to do what they do, and they're going to continue to threaten
    Americans and they will very likely at some point take more lives. And
    we are well aware of that and doing everything we can to protect
    Americans from that threat.

    Q: Just to follow up, you have no reason to believe that bin Ladin was
    killed?

    MCCURRY: We have no change in our assessment yesterday that we just
    don't have information that we are confident in to know about his
    whereabouts.

    Q: -- any countries joined in with the economic boycott? And because
    they haven't, is this largely symbolic?

    MCCURRY: No. Remember that you heard some folks earlier today say that
    this is the first step that we've taken. What we do by putting in
    place these additions to our specially designated terrorism list,
    adding these individuals on, we then are able to, first, make an
    assessment here in the United States of what assets, if any, they
    might have domestically. But then we can go to foreign governments and
    request that they do as we have done.

    Very often we find that when we seize assets or block financial
    transactions by any groups and go to other governments and ask them to
    do likewise, the first question they ask is, well, have you done this,
    have you taken these same steps, have you frozen assets. So, of
    course, it's important for us to do so. But then as we have this
    information and know more about the transactions, we can go to these
    governments and ask them to begin to trace out what they know about
    the financial holdings of these groups or how they do business or
    where they do transactions or how they move money from place to place.

    And as we learn more -- and we will now be in a position to learn more
    having put these measures in place -- we can go to governments and ask
    them to do specific things with respect to specific accounts. So this
    is really the beginning of a process, this is something that will now
    -- will allow us to go to other governments in the days and weeks
    ahead and continue to work to break down the financial infrastructure
    of these groups.

    Q: Did Mr. Clinton bring that up when he talked to world leaders? You
    said he was back in Washington making a number of calls.

    MCCURRY: This did come up in one of the calls, it didn't come up in
    every call. But other governments will be made aware of the action
    that the President has announced today, and we will begin working
    through our Treasury and diplomatic people to contact the financial
    entities overseas that we think might play a role in giving financial
    support to this network.

    Q:  Can you tell us who he called and how they responded?

    MCCURRY:  No, I'm not going to get in specifically to that.

    Q: Does the act have provisions that are likely to drive a wedge
    between the U.S. and other countries by threatening foreign companies
    that do business with Osama bin Ladin, a la Helms Burton?

    MCCURRY: I think in this case it works somewhat differently because
    these are not raw sanctions that affect all types of companies. They
    could conceivably affect particular financial institutions; but
    remember, they also affect particular accounts that some of these
    individuals may have and may maintain. So it's not the kind of broad
    economic sanctions that are designed to change the behavior of a
    government. This is to break down the sources of financial support for
    specific people and specific networks, which is a different kind of
    question.

    Q: Mike, with all the security measures being taken in the aftermath
    of the strikes, is the President concerned that America will be moving
    toward a fortress situation?

    MCCURRY: No, and the President specifically said today we are not
    going to lose those precious things that mean so much to us as
    Americans: the freedom to express ourselves, the freedom to travel,
    the freedom to move about. But we live in a world that is more
    dangerous now and we have to be conscious of that and we have to take
    those steps that are necessary to increase our safety.

    There are things the government can, will and is doing to protect
    Americans, but there are things that individual Americans will have to
    do themselves -- just to be more conscious of what the risks are.

    Q: Mike, to what extent is the President involved in or aware of some
    of the things that are going on in Washington today? We understand
    they're putting up these concrete barriers around the Washington
    Monument, other places are being fortified.

    MCCURRY: Well, the President knew that there would be steps taken that
    would increase security. I don't know that he's been briefed in detail
    on each and every thing. And we are acting to protect American
    installations around the world, and have also very carefully advised
    Americans that are in parts of -- well, all around the world,
    everywhere, in fact, and in specific places where we think there's an
    increased threat, to be especially conscious of their own situation
    and their own security.

    Q: -- gravity to the precautions that are being taken in Washington
    today?

    MCCURRY: I'm not aware of any specific threat in Washington. But there
    are good reasons to take precautions generally, just to protect some
    of those facilities.

    [Snip unrelated]

    Q: Do you know anything about these reports of journalists being taken
    into custody?

    MCCURRY: I'm aware that there apparently is a report, or at least a
    question about that. I've checked in our government; we don't have
    information on that. Remember that we do not have the capacity to
    assist individuals who are in that region -- either in Pakistan,
    because of a lack of a consular facility there, or in Afghanistan,
    because of lack of an embassy there. So we have strongly and
    repeatedly advised American citizens not to travel in that area. And
    we're not aware of any American citizens who are in that area.

    [Snip]

    Q: Mike, has there been any more security added -- our Washington desk
    wants to know -- to members of the President's Cabinet or any other
    members of the White House staff?

    MCCURRY: I think I'm not going to comment on specific steps that are
    taken on security. It's always best, I have been told, to just refrain
    from talking about the things that we do or don't do because that
    makes whatever we do more effective.

    Q: Mike, there are a couple of reports out this morning that the
    President is considering a second national address on the Lewinsky
    matter. Is that true, is he considering it?

    MCCURRY: I think the President has many advisors and many of them are
    rendering their advice sometimes in the newspapers. When the President
    elects to take any of that advice and do something, I'll let you know.

    Q: Mike, on the financial assets, do we know how much bin Ladin has?

    MCCURRY: We don't. In fact, one of the purposes of the action today is
    to allow us to go pulse financial entities and actually determine
    whether there is any amount that can be attributed to US sources. As
    you've heard, we don't anticipate that that's going to be much. But
    this allows you to do the kind of check. And, of course, we will now
    go to other governments and encourage them to do the same kind of
    check, and that's when you might get a better sense of what the
    structure, nature and monetary value is of his holdings.

    Q:  Do we have any idea how much he inherited?

    MCCURRY: There may be -- we may have somewhere in our government an
    assessment of that, but it might not be in a way that I can share it
    publicly. I don't think that we have any publicly available dollar
    amount that I can give you.

    Q:  Do you know where he is right now?  Bin Ladin?

    MCCURRY:  No, we don't know his whereabouts or his condition.

    [Snip]

    Q: Mike, when you say you don't know his whereabouts or his condition,
    that sounds like maybe he was in the camp and escaped injured or
    something. Are you suggesting that?

    MCCURRY:  There are lots of maybes in that statement, correct.

    [Snip]

    (end transcript)