Tunisia will freeze assets of individuals and entities with terrorism ties.
Moveable assets, real estate, securities and financial instruments would be subject to the measure, the finance ministry announced on February 25th. The move is part of efforts to stop money laundering.
Under a 2003 law, the finance minister may, upon consultation with the governor of Tunisia's central bank, freeze assets of individuals or groups linked to terrorist crimes.
The decision to enforce the policy now will help authorities tighten control over groups that operate under the pretext of charity but receive funds from suspicious entities, international relations expert Mohamed Benzekri noted.
Authorities will be better equipped to monitor the financial operations of organisations that support terrorism, he added.
"However, it isn't enough to uproot this phenomenon because many terrorist financing networks depend on other methods through money laundering and smuggling networks and manual transfers away from the organised operations through banks," he said.
"Putting an end terrorism financing networks is a collective effort in which all state structures and civil society take part to dry al-Qaeda's... resources and disrupt its ability to fund terrorist operations," he added.
Tunisian Centre for Global Security Studies (CTESG) head Nasr Ben Soltana agreed that terrorism could not be eliminated without combating money laundering.
He stressed the need for civil society components and executive authority to be aware of the danger of money laundering and its relation to terrorist financing.
The plan to freeze assets was well received by Tunisians.
"We've been waiting for this decision for a long time because money is the backbone of terrorism," said Ilyess Bedoui, a night guard in his 40s.
"I hope it will be effectively implemented by state agencies in order to disrupt the work of networks that finance terrorist groups," he said.
In his turn, Mohamed Ali Ben Youssef, a bank employee, lauded the decision and stressed the need to enhance it with other measures by establishing a centralised, electronic system between various financial institutions to better besiege money launderers and suspicious groups and tighten control over them.
Meanwhile, Tunisia's heightened effort to combat terrorist financing and money laundering is showing results.
In February, security units arrested several people involved in financing the terrorist group in Jebel Chaambi.
Security forces also nabbed five radical elements in Jendouba province for allegedly financing a terrorist group.
© Magharebia.com 2014
