US blocks more 'terror' assets

The United States has frozen the assets of an organisation based in Pakistan and nine individuals it says are linked to Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.

Officials say the group, the Aid Organisation of the Ulema, is a new version of the al-Rashid trust, whose assets were seized soon after 11 September.

The people whose assets have been frozen include two men based in London, four Tunisians, an Ethiopian, an Egyptian and a Libyan.

The action follows an executive order issued by President Bush last year, which directed government departments to find and target al-Qaeda's sources of funds.

A US Treasury official said they were blocking the finances of an assortment of terrorists involved in financing and carrying out bombings, kidnappings and murder.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service