Nations combat terror financing

In Paris, agreement to use sanctions against criminal funds

PARIS — More than 70 countries committed Thursday to bolster efforts in the fight against terrorism financing associated with the Islamic State group and al-qaida.

Participants at an international conference in Paris vowed to improve international coordination and enhance transparency of financial flows.

In a final declaration, they agreed to “fully criminalize” terror financing through effective and proportionate sanctions “even in the absence of a link to a specific terrorist act.”

The two-day event was convened by French President Emmanuel Macron to coordinate efforts to reduce the terror threat in the longterm. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar were all present.

Macron, who has returned to France from a state visit to the U.S., welcomed the decision of participants to form a coalition with the aim of choking off financing for IS and al-qaida.

“Our enemies are mobile and innovative. They are all the time changing tactics … they use all the modern technologies,” he stressed in his closing speech. “That is why we must combat (them) with total determination.”

Macron praised efforts of participants to cooperate despite their differences of approach and competing interests. Thursday’s meeting included countries that have accused each other of funding terrorism, notably in the Persian Gulf.

Macron said “too many countries have nourished movements with direct or indirect links to terrorism.”

There will be “no more ambiguity” regarding IS and al-qaida, he insisted.

Experts and ministers attending the conference noted terror groups are using increasingly hard-to-track tools like prepaid cards, online wallets and crowdfunding operations.