Assets of Hezbollah supporters frozen

WASHINGTON, May 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Department has frozen the assets under U.S. jurisdiction of two Hezbollah supporters based in Africa, the department said Wednesday.

The department designated Kassim Tajideen and Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi, both based in Africa, under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or terrorist acts by freezing assets the designees have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from conducting business with them, the department said.

"We will continue to take steps to protect the financial system from the threat posed by Hezbollah and those who support it," said Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Not only is Hezbollah itself a terrorist organization with global reach, it also recently acknowledged publicly that it provides support to Hamas."

Tajideen is a key financial contributor to Hezbollah who operates a network of businesses in Lebanon and Africa, Levey said. Qubaysi, based in Cote d'Ivoire, is the personal representative of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and helped establish an official Hezbollah foundation in Cote d'Ivoire that has been used to recruit Hezbollah members in Lebanon, he added.