U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism

The U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism is a list complied by the U.S. State Department of countries that the United States' sees as sponsoring terrorism. Inclusion on the list imposes strict sanctions.

The list began on December 29, 1979 with Libya, Iraq, South Yemen, and Syria.

Countries currently on the list

* Cuba - Added in 1982. Hosts or supports members of Basque ETA and the Colombian FARC and ELN groups.
* Iran - Added in 1984. According to the State Department, "continued to provide Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian rejectionist groups with varying amounts of funding, safe haven, training, and weapons. It also encouraged Hizballah and the rejectionist Palestinian groups to coordinate their planning and to escalate their activities."
* North Korea - Added in 1988. Sold weapons to terrorist groups and to have given asylum to Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction members. The country is also responsible for the Rangoon bombing and the bombing of KAL Flight 858.
* Sudan - Added in 1993. "A number of international terrorist groups including al-Qaida, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Egyptian al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and Hamas continued to use Sudan as a safe haven, primarily for conducting logistics and other support activities." [1]
* Syria - "provided Hizballah, HAMAS, PFLP-GC, the PIJ, and other terrorist organizations refuge and basing privileges." [2]

Countries that have been removed

* Iraq - Iraq was removed from the list in 1982 to make it eligible for U.S. military technology; it was put back on in 1990. It has since been removed following the 2003 invasion. The State Department's reason for including Iraq was that it provided bases to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), and the Abu Nidal organization (ANO). Following the invasion, U.S. sanctions applicable to state sponsors of terrorism against Iraq were suspended on 7 May 2003 and President Bush announced the removal of Iraq from the list on 25 September 2004.
* Libya - On May 15, 2006, the United States announced that Libya will be removed from the list after a 45-day wait period. [3] Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained that this was due to "...Libya's continued commitment to its renunciation of terrorism,".[4]
* South Yemen - Dropped from the list in 1990 after it merged with North Yemen. It had been branded a terrorism sponsor due to its support for left-wing Arab terrorist groups.

Afghanistan has never been on the list, although a 2001 report from the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism declared that "Taliban-controlled Afghanistan remains a primary hub for terrorists."[5] This is because the United States did not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

Sanctions

World map indicating (in dark red) the states listed as sponsors of international terrorism; states in green are states that have been removed from the list.

The sanctions which the US imposes on countries on the list are:
* No arms-related exports
* Controls over dual-use exports
* Restrictions on economic assistance
* Financial restrictions
** US opposes loans by the World Bank and similar institutions
** Sovereign immunity waived to allow families of terrorist victims to file for civil damages in US courts
** Tax credits denied for income earned in listed countries
** Duty-free goods exemption suspended for imports from those countries
** Authority to prohibit a US citizen from engaging in financial transactions with the government on the list without a license from the US government.
** Prohibition of Defense Department contracts above $100,000 with companies controlled by countries on the list.

See also

* United States embargoes
* Axis of evil
* Outposts of tyranny