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13 July 2004
Continuity Irish Republican Army Designated as Terrorist Group
Name added to list of 37 other foreign terrorist organizations
The Secretary of State has designated the terrorist group Continuity Irish Republican Army, along with its aliases Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein, as a foreign terrorist organization.
Under the law, persons in the United States cannot provide material support to designated organizations, U.S. financial institutions must block their assets, and visas may be denied to representatives and members of the group.
Foreign terrorist organizations designated on the list now number 38.
Following is the State Department announcement:
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
July 13, 2004
Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman
FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION: DESIGNATION OF CONTINUITY IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY AND ALIASES
As part of ongoing U.S. efforts against terrorism, the Secretary of State has designated the terrorist group Continuity Irish Republican Army, along with its aliases Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein, as a foreign terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under U.S. law, this designation makes it illegal for persons in the United States or subject to U.S. jurisdiction knowingly to provide material support to the group; it requires U.S. financial institutions to block the group's assets; and it provides a basis for the United States to deny visas to representatives and members of the group. The Secretary of State took this action in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury.
The Continuity Irish Republican Army, originally formed as the clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Fein, has been active as a terrorist group since 1994. Since its inception it has carried out terrorist bombings and shootings primarily in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland. The group's terrorism seeks to thwart the peaceful resolution of the Northern Ireland conflict. The United States remains fully committed to a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland on the basis of the Good Friday Agreement and we continue working with the British and Irish governments as well as with all the parties to advance this goal. As President Bush has made clear, the United States sees no place for paramilitaries nor their violent activities in a democratic society like Northern Ireland.
The Secretary previously designated this group under Executive Order 13224 on December 31, 2001, and he has now amended that designation to include the aliases Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Fein.
With this action, the list of designated foreign terrorist organizations now numbers 38. We hope this list will continue to draw the attention of governments across the world and will encourage those governments to take action, as we have, to isolate these terrorist organizations, to choke off their sources of financial support, and to prevent their members' movement across international borders.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
