The Caliphate or the United States?

I have been banning all Iranian products into my house since 1979. Here is a group now that is asking you to do the same. Actually, they are asking for a little more.

Ask President Bush, today, to impose strict economic sanctions against Iran’s import of refined petroleum products. Iran, one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil, lacks the facilities to produce a refined product. As a result, Iran is one of the largest importers of gasoline – nearly half of all gasoline used by Iranians. Now, the Iranians are feeling the pinch of raised prices and gasoline rationing imposed by the government.

A bipartisan group in the U.S. House is seeking economic sanctions against Iran in an attempt to reduce the amount of gasoline imported by Tehran.

The legislation calls for companies that provide Iran with gasoline or assists with the import of gasoline would not be allowed to sell gasoline to U.S. customers. Iran imports most of its gasoline from Persian Gulf states and India.

According to Rep. Mark S. Kirk, R-IL: “This is becoming the critical weakness of the Iranian government, meaning its dependence on gasoline. Riots [in Iran] show the gasoline shortage is a growing danger to the Iranian regime and a diplomatic opportunity for Western countries to force Iran to adhere to international nuclear rules.”

The legislation would provide President Bush with several options, as well as several penalties. Included among these are: denial of loans and credits from the Export-Import bank and loans or licenses for exports to the U.S. [Um…I thought we already had this?] The House Foreign Affairs Committee has already approved “legislation designed to strike at investments in Iran.” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, “We need to do everything that we can to continue to raise the stakes in Iran in terms of its nuclear program.”

Another supporter of the bill, Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., said, “Our goal must be zero foreign investment.” To reach that end, the U.S. is also working with European allies to try to increase penalties against Tehran. Of course, the countries that do a lucrative business with Iran don’t want to do anything to upset the powers that be.

Vote Your Opinion NOW!

Just as we have defeated big business here in America (NO illegal aliens!), we must bring to the light our European ‘friends’. We must explain to them, in a calm way, that there are higher ideals in this life than how much money you can grab. This is one of them.

Unless you want all of your women living under the Caliphate, which means clothed from head to toe with no skin showing, you must be with us on this. There truly is a war against us. It is to elimate everyone who does not believe as they do, Sharia Law, their idea of what a Muslim should be, and many more horrific things.

If you want to understand more, you may be interested in this book:

The Final Move Beyond Iraq.

Thank you.

Your e-mails: Will U.S. sanctions on Sudan work?

Source: CNN.

(CNN) — President Bush imposed new sanctions this week against the Sudanese government for its refusal to stop violence against civilians in Darfur. The sanctions are aimed at 31 companies owned or controlled by the Sudanese government, banning them from doing business with the United States or U.S. companies.

CNN.com asked readers if they think that economic sanctions can help end the crisis in Darfur, and what responsibility, if any, the United States has to end the violence. Below is a selection of those responses, some of which have been edited for length and clarity:

Haytham Mohamed of Khartoum, Sudan.
As far as I know, thousands of Sudanese incomes depend on these 31 companies regardless of the political situation in Darfur.

Sanctions might be a good weapon by adding more suffering and hunger to Sudanese people, but now it is like the U.S. government is saying ,”Equity in Sudan means that all people of Sudan must live an equal way of living, they should all be starving and leave Sudan.”

Instead of increasing the number of people who are suffering in Sudan, please Mr. Bush be more creative and find a better way.

Dorothy Rich of Norwalk, Connecticut.
We say “never again” and then it happens again. Colin Powell visited the Darfur area of Sudan and had the courage to state the truth about what is happening there: genocide. All countries, including the U.S., have a responsibility to do what they can to stop the slaughter and other human rights abuses by the Janjaweed and the Sudanese government. China, especially, needs to be pressured to stop investing in Sudanese oil. The Sudanese government must accept the intervention of U.N. and African Union forces.

Roman Soiko of Plainsboro, New Jersey.
President Bush has been completely and seemingly intractably ambivalent about the horrors, the reprehensible and completely unfathomable horrors that are commonplace, and occur with impunity in Darfur.

It is high time that Bush expanded his net, and force all companies who do business with Sudan, no matter how infinitesimal their portfolio is in that country, and should place economic sanctions on any country that colludes with Sudan and send in NATO, U.N., AU peacekeeper forces immediately and without ambivalence or hesitation.

Harry Stone of Raleigh, North Carolina.
I was listening to Bush about Darfur. Why does he stick his nose in it? That’s why we are short of money and troops and so many soldiers have died because he simply believes his way is the right way. I believe in helping anyone who needs it, but my family comes first.

Dana Crumbliss of Fort Worth, Texas.
I believe it is absolutely crucial that the U.S. becomes much more involved in putting an end to the horrific crimes continuing in Darfur. The passivity of the world is shameful, and we are looked to as leaders whether we like it or not. Kofi Annan said it best: We have yet to summon the collective sense of urgency this issue requires.

Chris Lafargue of San Antonio, Texas.
Why do we always have to help other countries? Most of them hate us to begin with and the only time they want us around is when they need us to help them. It should be the responsibility of the government of the country in trouble to take care of its own people, not us. Also if all off these rich celebrities are so concerned for Darfur, why don’t they donate their money to help?

Jose Antonio Goncero of Quezon City, Philippines.
I believe that the economic sanctions will only make things worse. The U.S. is not only depriving the Sudanese government business but also putting its ordinary people into deeper anguish.

Aimee Imlay of Lakeside, California.
I applaud the president for imposing sanctions against the Sudanese government; it demonstrates concern on behalf of the U.S. Unfortunately, the sanctions are far too late, as hundreds of thousands of people have already died. I am not sure if the sanctions will “work,” but I imagine that they will not. I think that the U.S. and the entire Western world both have a responsibility to end this crisis in Darfur. The U.S., claiming to be interested in implementing democracy in places in need, should examine the Darfur crisis and give substantial consideration to ending the violence, regardless of strategic interests such as economic and logistical opportunities. In a time with an emerging global economy, people should consider taking care of their fellow global citizens, regardless of country lines, cultural and religious differences.

Michelle Blake of Hillside, New Jersey.
I don’t think that sanctions will stop the violence in Darfur. It is a start. However, it is not enough. I don’t think the Sudanese care so much about doing business with the U.S. than it cares about its cause. If we can send troops to Iraq to fight a senseless war, surely we can spare troops to help the people in Darfur. At least we would know what our purpose was.

V. Fleming of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
I believe generations of people now and generations to come just don’t want to care. Hundreds of thousands of innocent lives are being destroyed in innumerable ways. The slaughter of people, young and old, the rape of women and young girls and the use of young children as soldiers continue. It’s as if Africa and its people aren’t important enough for the rest of mankind to care. And it’s not just the ordinary people that carry this attitude. Leaders of many nations do nothing more than give the Darfur crisis lip service of the poorest magnitude. How long will we have to witness yet another wholesale slaughter of innocent lives? What has to happen for the world to react to yet another holocaust? Do we have time to save Darfur?

Photo: An aerial view shows typical huts in the western Darfur town of Mukjar, Sudan.

Bush to North Korea: Patience ‘not unlimited’

Source: CNN.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (AP) — President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe demanded on Friday that North Korea live up to its promises and abandon its nuclear weapons program.

The two leaders threatened more sanctions against Pyongyang.

“There’s a price to pay,” Bush said, standing alongside Abe at the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains. (Watch why Japan has special concerns about North Korea.)

“Our partners in the six-party talks are patient, but our patience is not unlimited,” Bush said, referring to disarmament negotiations between the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea

For his part, Abe said, “We completely see eye to eye on this matter. They need to respond properly on these issues. Otherwise we will have to take a tougher response on our side.”

North Korea missed a deadline to shut down its nuclear reactor under an agreement reached in February.

Bush’s words appeared to be an attempt to persuade Abe that the United States is not softening its stance on North Korea.

Japan is already withholding economic and food aid to the reclusive communist regime.

Abe said that sanctions “will worsen” if North Korea continues to defy the international community.

On another subject, Abe apologized for the Japanese military’s actions in forcing women to work in military brothels during World War II. He said he wanted to “express my apologies that they were placed in that circumstance.”

Abe created a controversy recently by suggesting their was no evidence Japan’s Imperial Army had directly coerced the so-called “comfort women” to work in brothels.

In his Camp David remarks, Abe said he had apologized for those remarks in his meetings with members of Congress on Thursday, and again with Bush on Friday.

Bush said the comfort women situation was “a regrettable chapter in the history of the world. And I accept the prime minister’s apology.”

Abe expressed “deep-hearted sympathies” for the comfort women, saying they had been placed “in extreme hardship.”

At the same time, Abe said that “human rights were violated in many parts of the world” at the time. “So we have to make the 21st century a century in which no human rights are violated,” he said. He pledged to make “a significant contribution to this end.”

On the North Korea issue, Bush said, “We expect North Korea to meet all its commitments under the February 13th agreement. And we will continue working closely with our partners.”

A U.S. decision to allow the return of $25 million in disputed North Korean money in an attempt to move the disarmament process forward has been criticized in Japan as a sign of softness.

Bush addressed this issue. “There’s a financial arrangement that we’re now trying to clarify for the North Koreans, so that that will enable them to have no excuse for moving forward. And that’s where we are right now,” he said.

“I think it’s wise to show the North Korean leader as well that there’s a better way forward. I wouldn’t call that soft,” said Bush.

On another nuclear weapons issue, Bush also said that “we speak with one voice to the regime in Iran. Our nations have fully implemented the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council in response to Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“Further defiance by Iran will only lead to additional sanctions and to further isolation from the international community,” Bush said.

China, Russia urge Iran to play ball

Source: CNN.

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) — The presidents of Russia and China have called on Iran to fulfill the U.N. Security Council’s resolutions over its disputed nuclear program.

Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao also said Monday in a joint statement that their countries — permanent, veto-wielding Security Council members — were ready to “search for a comprehensive, long-term and mutually acceptable solution to the Iranian nuclear problem.”

“Russia and China are calling on Iran to take the necessary constructive steps to fulfill the U.N. Security Council resolutions and (International Atomic Energy Agency) board decisions and believe that Iran … has the right to pursue peaceful use of nuclear energy while observing its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” the statement said.

They emphasized again that the increasingly tense dispute should be resolved “exclusively through peaceful means.”

Russia and China joined other members of the Security Council on Saturday in voting to impose new sanctions on Iran. The sanctions included the banning of Iranian arms exports and the freezing of assets of 28 people and organizations involved in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

Iran rejected the sanctions and later announced a partial suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“We intend to extend our partnerships in all areas,” Putin said after the statement was signed. “The development of trade and economic relations remains the priority.”

“The strengthening of the strategic cooperation between Russia and China … is very important from the point of view of a multi-polar world and the democratization of the international relations,” Hu said.

The visit by Hu to Moscow comes amid efforts by both countries to bolster what they say is a “strategic partnership” forged since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Before Hu’s arrival, Russian and Chinese officials said that North Korea’s nuclear efforts — as well as Iran’s — would be on the agenda.

Like Russia, China has been reluctant to join the United States and other Western nations in an aggressive push for punitive sanctions against Iran, which says its nuclear programs are of a peaceful nature.

Washington and some of its allies fear the Iranian efforts are a cover for producing atomic weapons.

The new sanctions could be lifted if Tehran helped assuage global concerns, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak said earlier, according to ITAR-Tass.

Earlier on Monday, the Russian state-run company building Iran’s first atomic power plant said that Tehran had made its first payment toward the delayed construction of the Bushehr plant since a dispute over financing halted the project.

Moscow and Tehran have been at loggerheads over financing of the plant, and Russia earlier this month said that nuclear fuel would not be supplied this month, as had been planned. The delays prompted Russia to indefinitely postpone the reactor’s launch, set for September.

Iran, meanwhile, angrily denied falling behind in payments and accused Russia of caving in to U.S. pressure to take a tougher line on Tehran for defying international demands to halt parts of its nuclear program.

Russian officials denied media speculation that it was putting political pressure on Iran under cover of the financial dispute.

“The fact that our Iranian partners have overcome their difficulties is positive, however, it far from compensates for the requirements of the (project) that have arisen during the period of nonpayment,” Atomstroiexport spokesman Sergei Novikov said in a statement.

The company also said the new payment was just half of the monthly amount needed for a normal construction schedule to be resumed.

Top officials: U.S. to impose Sudan sanctions soon

Source: CNN.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The United States will impose tough new measures against Sudan, likely within days, to try to force it to change course on Darfur and aims to pressure Khartoum militarily by helping rebuild forces in the south, U.S. officials said.

State Department, Defense, Treasury and other U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the goal was to “tighten the screws” on President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and have him accept an international force in the vast western province.

A White House announcement on sanctions and a further limit on dollar transactions was expected very soon, a State Department official said.

Military options like a no-fly zone over Darfur — which Britain wants — or a forced intervention have been ruled out for now, but the Pentagon has done some “back of the envelope” calculations on what might be needed, a defense official said.

Some Sudan experts said the new sanctions were too little, too late.

“This is the right idea but it is simply not enough and not multilateral enough to make an impact, a dent, in the calculations of the Sudanese regime,” said John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group.

The United States had threatened an unspecified “Plan B” by January 1 if Bashir did not agree to a U.N./African Union force in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since 2003 in what Washington says is this century’s first genocide.

That deadline passed but it was Bashir’s comments that he would not accept a hybrid force that pushed the administration to roll out “Plan B,” senior officials said.

One idea: Bolster military force in the south

The U.S. government is also looking at how to change the military equation in Sudan.

One tactic is to help the government in the south build a strong force out of the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army which was at war with the north until a 2005 peace deal.

“If he (Bashir) is faced with a credible force in the south, he will start to relook at how his forces are dispersed and where his risks are,” the defense official said.

But the initial focus will be on putting the financial squeeze on Bashir.

About 130 firms with ties to Sudan’s government, including the two leading oil companies, are already on a U.S. sanctions list barring them from doing business with the United States or from using U.S. financial institutions to do dollar transactions — the favored currency for lucrative oil trades.

Other companies will be added to the list, current sanctions will be tightened and existing loopholes closed, making it harder to do dollar deals.

“The goal is to be more pro-active and have tighter enforcement (of sanctions),” said a Treasury Department official.

Aside from slapping travel and banking restrictions on at least three more Sudanese individuals, including a rebel leader, Washington also wants to put more pressure on splintered rebel groups in Darfur.

‘You have to squeeze them all,’ Khartoum and rebels both

“You have to squeeze them all,” said the defense official. “The goal is to get both Bashir and the rebels to come to the conclusion that they are not going to get anywhere with their current course of action.”

The United States is working closely with Britain, which takes over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council next month, and is planning a new resolution on Darfur.

But a senior U.S. official made clear the United States would not wait months for the United Nations to act.

Britain has been pushing for a no-fly zone in Darfur but the Pentagon sees that as fraught with problems, as it does a forced military intervention which would ostracize Arab nations still smarting from the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

“When you look at a no-fly zone, the conclusion that pretty much everyone comes up with is that it will not have any impact at all,” a defense official said.

With Sudan’s limited number of fixed-wing aircraft, it would also be a logistical nightmare maintaining a no-fly zone in an area the size of Texas, the official said.

U.S. prepares to sanction Sudanese companies

Source: CNN:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush’s envoy to Sudan said Wednesday the administration is preparing to impose new economic sanctions because of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s refusal to allow U.N. peacekeepers to deploy to Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region.

Pending Bush’s final approval, envoy Andrew Natsios said, Sudanese companies will be subject to sanctions, and international transactions involving U.S. dollars will be blocked.

“I don’t want to presuppose the decision that the president is going to make,” he said. “It is pretty clear the president is angrier than anyone else. He gets very upset when he talks to me about the situation. He gets very frustrated by it.”

Later, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the world will have to consider new options, possibly further action by the United Nations.

“Of course the international community is going to have to look at other options. We are, indeed, looking at other options, including options that might require further U.N. action,” Rice told reporters after a discussion at the State Department with Israel’s foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.

“It’s simply the case that the Sudanese government needs to recognize that the international community can’t stand idly by while people suffer, while we’re unable to deliver humanitarian assistance to people and while the violence against innocent civilians continues,” Rice said.

Natsios spoke during a telephone conference call in which officials from humanitarian groups and other non-governmental organizations participated.

Al-Bashir made known his disapproval of the U.N. plan in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, details of which emerged earlier this week. Under the plan, a hybrid U.N.-African Union force totaling 22,000 military and civilian personnel would be deployed in Darfur.

“I was stunned by the letter,” Natsios said, adding it was practically an invitation by al-Bashir to “sanction us, come after us.”

Over the past four years, some 200,000 Darfurians have died and more than 2.5 million been displaced from their homes because of civil strife. The United States blames mostly the Sudanese government and government-backed militias for the “genocidal” situation.

Scenes of suffering in the region have produced an outpouring of concern and demands for international action to protect and provide for the victims.

The humanitarian situation is so grave that some members of Congress have recommended U.S. military action. But that idea appears to have scant support.

Though Darfur has seen repeated civil strife over the years, the violence of the past four years has been extraordinary.

U.S. to bar banks from business with Macau’s BDA

Source: CNN. Also an earlier CNN report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. Treasury Department will bar U.S. banks from doing business with a Macau bank holding frozen North Korean assets believed connected to illegal activities, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The move would clear the way for Macau authorities to decide whether to release some of the frozen accounts — an estimated $8 million to $12 million — Pyongyang has demanded as a condition of negotiations on its nuclear program, other U.S. officials said.

Releasing the funds could take weeks and Washington’s prohibition on U.S. banks will continue to complicate the North’s access to the international financial system. This is expected to irritate Pyongyang and could shake efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, officials and experts said.

For the past 18 months the Treasury Department has been investigating the Banco Delta Asia bank, known as BDA, over charges the institution for years accepted proceeds from North Korea’s counterfeiting, drug-smuggling and money-laundering operations.

As a result, Macau authorities who oversee the bank froze $24 million in North Korean accounts, causing Pyongyang to boycott six-country talks on its nuclear program for more than a year.

The figure is a fraction of the $500 million to $1 billion Pyongyang earns annually from criminal activity, according to the Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service.

Some $15 million to $25 million is from high-quality counterfeiting U.S. currency, according to a report by the office of Republican Rep. Ed Royce of California.

Under a limited nuclear agreement reached with North Korea on February 13, the United States promised to resolve the BDA issue and the decision will be announced this week.

Announcement soon

“We plan to finalize the rule on BDA this week, most likely Wednesday or Thursday,” a U.S. official told Reuters on condition on anonymity. “Finalizing the rule means that U.S. banks can no longer open or maintain correspondent accounts for or on behalf of BDA.”

The decision to release any funds rests with the China-administered enclave of Macau. U.S. officials have said they expect between one-third and one-half of the $24 million to be released, reflecting accounts determined not to be connected to illicit activity.

The United States is expected to transmit results of its investigation, highlighting high-risk North Korea-related clients, to Macau authorities, who could take several weeks or longer to decide what funds to release.

China is concerned about the cloud of suspicion the U.S. decision will leave over BDA. Some U.S. officials say North Korea likely will reject the way Washington has chosen to interpret its promise to resolve the case.

The officials acknowledge Macau has taken steps to clean up its jurisdiction by tightening banking requirements and promoting transparency but say BDA’s shortcomings were systemic largely involving U.S. concerns about the bank’s ownership.

“Our concerns about the bank’s ownership have not been resolved,” another U.S. official said.

In 2005, the Treasury Department designated BDA as a “primary money-laundering concern [because it was a] willing pawn for the North Korean government to engage in corrupt financial activities.”

Some U.S. officials and experts have long wanted to resolve the dispute so Pyongyang would come back to six-party negotiations and the focus could be on persuading the North to abandon its nuclear program, rather than counterfeiting.

A shutdown of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear plant by mid-April is the centerpiece of the February 13 accord reached in six-party talks grouping North and South Korea, Japan, Russia, the United States and host China.

U.N.: World must protect Darfur civilians from war crimes

Source: CNN:

GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) — U.N. human rights team said Monday that the Sudanese government has orchestrated crimes against humanity in Darfur, and that steps taken by the international community “have proven inadequate and ineffective.”

The team, headed by Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams, urged stronger U.N. Security Council intervention, sanctions and criminal prosecution.

“All U.N. Security Council and [African Union] Peace and Security Council resolutions should be fully implemented, including those relating to travel bans and the freezing of funds, assets, and economic resources of those who commit violations,” the 35-page report said.

Important steps have been taken by the international community, including the African Union and the United Nations, but “these have been largely resisted and obstructed, and have proven inadequate and ineffective,” the report said.

More than 200,000 people have died and more than 2.5 million people have been displaced in four years of fighting in Darfur. The conflict began when members of the region’s ethnic African tribes took up arms against what they saw as decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

The government is accused of unleashing a pro-government Arab militia that has committed many of the atrocities in the conflict.

The U.N. Human Rights Council commissioned Monday’s report in an emergency session last December. Williams filed the report after concluding in a 20-day attempt to enter Sudan in February that the Sudanese government had no intention of cooperating with the United Nations.

Sudan’s government “has manifestly failed to protect the population of Darfur from large-scale international crimes, and has itself orchestrated and participated in these crimes,” the report said.

Monday’s report said rape was widespread across Darfur, but that Sudanese authorities were doing little to prevent it or investigate the crimes.

“Arbitrary arrest and detention in Darfur by government security forces continue,” the report said, adding that there had been a wave of arrests of Darfurians in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in recent months.

There also have been curbs on free speech and “credible information on torture, inhumane and degrading treatment by national Security and Military Intelligence during attacks and in the treatment of detainees,” the report said.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, last month linked Sudan’s government to atrocities in Darfur, naming a junior minister as a war crimes suspect who helped recruit, arm and bankroll the janjaweed.

Ahmed Muhammed Harun, the former junior interior minister responsible for the western region of Darfur, and a janjaweed militia leader, Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, are suspected of a total of 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Sudan says it already has set up its own war crimes courts, and does not have to turn over suspects named by the ICC.

The report said anti-government rebels also were to blame for human rights abuses, including the rape and torture of civilians. Much of this violence was related to fighting between different rebel groups and an increase in violent banditry in the largely lawless region, it said.

Although the team was unable to enter Sudan, it held numerous consultations with a wide range of aid agencies working in the region and also was briefed by African Union officials in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the report said.

In Chad, the team also spoke to some members of rebel groups, including the Justice and Equality Movement and the secretariat of the National Redemption Front, and to Darfur refugees.

North Korea probe turns to banks

Source: CNN.

HONG KONG, China (AP) — A U.S. Treasury Department delegation worked Monday to resolve sanctions against a Macau bank accused of helping North Korea launder money — a key condition in the North’s agreement to give up its nuclear weapons program.

The meeting with Macau officials came about two weeks after North Korea agreed in six-nation talks to take initial steps to abandon its nuclear weapons program in return for aid. Washington agreed on the meeting’s sidelines to settle the financial sanctions by mid-March.

On Monday, Dale Kreisher, spokesman at the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, declined to say whether Washington was ready to lift the sanctions on Banco Delta Asia, accused of helping North Korea’s money laundering and counterfeiting.

But Kreisher, whose office is responsible for Macau, told The Associated Press, “Discussions (with North Korea) along with the U.S. investigation have brought Treasury to the point where they think they can begin taking steps to resolve the BDA matter.”

Washington slapped restrictions on Banco Delta Asia in 2005 and put it on a money-laundering blacklist. This prompted Macau to freeze about US$24 million at the bank. Consequently, banks worldwide shunned North Korean business for fears of losing access to American markets.

Many believe the sanctions dealt a severe blow to cash-strapped North Korea, which denied the allegations and boycotted the six-nation nuclear talks over the issue for a year.

Banco Delta Asia has said that money might have been laundered at the bank, but added there is no evidence the institution was aware of it. The bank said it is small, family-owned, and didn’t have the technology to check big batches of U.S. currency for fake bills.

The bank also said it used a dated computer system and that it didn’t pay enough attention to maintaining its own books. It has also said the bank didn’t have adequate written anti-money-laundering policies for its staff.

Macau was a Portuguese enclave before it returned to Chinese rule in 1999. The territory — the only place in China where casinos are legal — recently displaced the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s most lucrative gaming center.