Bush to unveil new efforts to choke terror funding

President Bush plans new measures to cut off financial support of terrorists.

From John King
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday will announce another wave of law enforcement activity in the United States and overseas designed to choke off financial support for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, CNN has learned.

Officials declined to provide many details Monday but said in their view the new actions were significant. One said that for the first time the actions included individuals and organizations linked to financing terrorist groups other than al Qaeda.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Attorney General John Ashcroft were scheduled to join Bush for the Tuesday announcement at the White House.

Two officials familiar with the plan said new "freezing orders" were being issued by the administration and that a "significant" number of new names of individuals and organizations would be added to the administration's list of suspected financial sponsors of international terror groups.

The last major announcement on this front came a month ago, when the administration added 62 organizations and individuals to the list and said most of them operated as part of two financial organizations, the Al Taqwa and Al Barakaat networks, which allegedly provided support to suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terror network.