Thursday, June 30 2005 11:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: US President George W Bush announced today (Jun 30, 2005) that he was freezing the assets of North Korean, Iranian and Syrian entities thought to be tied to the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

The move was announced by the White House in an executive order that did not name specific countries, but an annex to the decree listed three entities linked to North Korea, four linked to Iran and one linked to Syria.

The annex named the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation; Tanchon Commercial Bank; Korea Ryonbong General Corporation; Aerospace Industries Organization; Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group; Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group; Atomic Energy Organization of Iran; and Scientific Studies and Research Center.

Bush's goal was "to combat trafficking of WMD and proliferation-related materials by cutting off financing and other support for proliferation networks," the White House said in a fact sheet.

The order specifically targeted "any foreign person determined ... to have engaged, or attempted to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery."

Such activities include "any efforts to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer or use such items, by any person or foreign country of proliferation concern," Bush said in the order.