The United States and Interpol have reached an agreement to create a database of information on terrorist financial networks, U.S. Treasury Department officials said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 5).

The agreement is the first significant involvement by international law enforcement against terrorist finances since the Sept. 11 attacks, said Jimmy Gurule, Treasury undersecretary of enforcement.  “This is a way of making information available to 179 countries on a real-time basis,” Gurule said.  “It has the potential to generate enormous leads.”

The database will store the names of entities that have been officially identified as providing financial aid to terrorists, according to the New York Times.  It is to include individuals and groups who have had assets frozen by the United States, as well as those identified by the United Nations and other members of Interpol.

The United States has been attempting to reduce reliance on informal agreements between international law enforcement agencies, the Times reported.  The meetings in Europe to work out the recent agreement were a first step, Gurule said.  During those meetings, Treasury officials said they would help locate and freeze financial accounts of terrorist groups that attack other countries, he said.  “We asked for cooperation and we offered cooperation” (Kurt Eichenwald, New York Times, Dec. 19).

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