'Terror Cash' Handed Back Date: Friday, February 05, 2010 Source: The Sun Online

Desperate Treasury officials had to ring banks yesterday and beg them not to release terror suspects' cash after a Government blunder. They feared £150,000 would be withdrawn after the Supreme Court ruled it had to be unfrozen. The cash belonging to 40 alleged fanatics had been frozen by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor to stop it funding violence. Supreme Court judges had suspended a ruling last week that the Government had acted illegally. But yesterday they refused a Government move to delay it any longer. The verdict plunged the Treasury into a panic. Counter-terrorism officers feared the cash would be swiftly moved out of the country and into the hands of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The Government is rushing to plug the hole by passing new legislation on Monday. But opposition parties rounded on the shambles as "massive incompetence". Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said the Tories would back the new laws. But he insisted: "This is massive incompetence by the Government. We will help pass emergency legislation, but there is no law to prevent terror suspects from accessing frozen assets. "That is not a risk Britain should be running, and the blame lies with Gordon Brown, who was warned six years ago about this and refused to listen." Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "Having been hauled before the courts for bypassing Parliament, the Government is now trying to bypass the court. This approach to law-making is simply unacceptable." Treasury lawyers argued in court unfreezing the cash would risk it being spent on terrorism, "causing serious harm to the national interest". Treasury minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry said last night: "The Government is determined to maintain the important safeguards to national security, provided by our terrorist asset-freezing regime. We are introducing primary legislation tomorrow." Five men had challenged the freezing of their assets. Syrian-born Mohammed al-Ghabra, Michael Marteen, Mohammed Ahmed, Mohammed Khan and Hani Youssef failed in a bid to stay anonymous during the appeal.   To see the article please click on the link below. The Sun Online Courtesy of SecurityOracle.com - The Secury Industry's Portal