WASHINGTON, May 20 (KUNA) -- The US Department of State announced Friday the revocation of five Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designations under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the revocation of six "now deceased individuals" as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) designated under Executive Order 13224.
The Department of State said in a statement that the five organizations: Basque Fatherland and Liberty, Aum Shinrikyo, Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, Kahane Chai and Gamaآ’a al-Islamiyya "will remain designated" as SDGT entities under Executive Order 13224.
The statement added that "the Department is retaining these SDGT designations for a number of reasons, including to support law enforcement actions or ensure frozen assets are not released to still active individual terrorists." "As required by the INA, the Department reviews FTO designations every five years to determine if the circumstances that were the basis of the designation have changed in such a manner as to warrant a revocation," it noted.
"Our review of these five FTO designations determined that, as defined by the INA, the five organizations are no longer engaged in terrorism or terrorist activity and do not retain the capability and intent to do so. Therefore, as required by the INA, these FTO designations are being revoked." The statement affirmed that "these actions are intended to reflect the United Statesآ’ resolve to comply with legal requirements to review and revoke FTO designations when the facts compel such action." It continued that "these revocations do not seek to overlook or excuse the terrorist acts each of these groups previously engaged in or the harm the organizations caused its victims, but rather recognize the success Egypt, Israel, Japan and Spain have had in defusing the threat of terrorism by these groups." "Revoking FTO designations and the delisting of deceased individuals ensures our terrorism sanctions remain current and credible and does not reflect any change in policy towards the past activities of any of these terrorists or of the organizations in which they were members," it stressed.
The statement affirmed that the US "remains committed to combating the activities of terrorists worldwide." (end) si