Foreign Terrorist Organizations
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Fact Sheet
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Washington, DC
April 8, 2008
Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are foreign organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance
with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended. FTO designations play a critical role in our fight
against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the
terrorism business.
Current List of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
1. Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
2. Abu Sayyaf Group
3. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
4. Al-Shabaab
5. Ansar al-Islam
6. Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
7. Asbat al-Ansar
8. Aum Shinrikyo
9. Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
10. Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA)
11. Continuity Irish Republican Army
12. Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group)
13. HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)
14. Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)
15. Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
16. Hizballah (Party of God)
17. Islamic Jihad Group
18. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
19. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed)
20. Jemaah Islamiya organization (JI)
21. al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad)
22. Kahane Chai (Kach)
23. Kongra-Gel (KGK, formerly Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, KADEK)
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24. Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous)
25. Lashkar i Jhangvi
26. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
27. Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)
28. Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)
29. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)
30. National Liberation Army (ELN)
31. Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
32. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
33. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLF)
34. PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
35. Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) (al-Qaida in Iraq) (formerly Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, JTJ, al-Zarqawi Network)
36. al-Qa'ida
37. al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (formerly GSPC)
38. Real IRA
39. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
40. Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA)
41. Revolutionary Organization 17 November
42. Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
43. Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)
44. United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)
Identification
The Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in the State Department (S/CT) continually monitors the activities of terrorist
groups active around the world to identify potential targets for designation. When reviewing potential targets, S/CT looks not only at
the actual terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, but also at whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations
for possible future acts of terrorism or retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts.
Designation
Once a target is identified, S/CT prepares a detailed "administrative record," which is a compilation of information, typically
including both classified and open sources information, demonstrating that the statutory criteria for designation have been satisfied.
If the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, decides to make the
designation, Congress is notified of the Secretary's intent to designate the organization and given seven days to review
the designation, as the INA requires. Upon the expiration of the seven-day waiting period and in the absence of Congressional
action to block the designation, notice of the designation is published in the Federal Register, at which point the designation
takes effect. By law an organization designated as an FTO may seek judicial review of the designation in the United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not later than 30 days after the designation is published in the Federal Register.
Until recently the INA provided that FTOs must be redesignated every 2 years or the designation would lapse. Under the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), however, the redesignation requirement was replaced by
certain review and revocation procedures. IRTPA provides that an FTO may file a petition for revocation 2 years after its
designation date (or in the case of redesignated FTOs, its most recent redesignation date) or 2 years after the determination date on
its most recent petition for revocation. In order to provide a basis for revocation, the petitioning FTO must provide evidence that
the circumstances forming the basis for the designation are sufficiently different as to warrant revocation. If no such review has
been conducted during a 5 year period with respect to a designation, then the Secretary of State is required to review the
designation to determine whether revocation would be appropriate. In addition, the Secretary of State may at any time revoke
a designation upon a finding that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation have changed in such a manner as
to warrant revocation, or that the national security of the United States warrants a revocation. The same procedural requirements
apply to revocations made by the Secretary of State as apply to designations. A designation may be revoked by an Act of Congress,
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or set aside by a Court order.
Legal Criteria for Designation under Section 219 of the INA as amended
1. It must be a foreign organization.
2. The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)),* or terrorism,
as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)(2)),** or retain
the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.
3. The organization's terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense,
foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.
Legal Ramifications of Designation
1. It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide "material support
or resources" to a designated FTO. (The term "material support or resources" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(1) as " any property,
tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training,
expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons,
lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who maybe or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or
religious materials." 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(2) provides that for these purposes "the term `training' means instruction or teaching designed
to impart a specific skill, as opposed to general knowledge." 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(3) further provides that for these purposes the term
`expert advice or assistance' means advice or assistance derived from scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge.''
2. Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from
the United States (see 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182 (a)(3)(B)(i)(IV)-(V), 1227 (a)(1)(A)).
3. Any U.S. financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which a designated FTO or its agent has
an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.
S. Department of the Treasury.
Other Effects of Designation
1. Supports our efforts to curb terrorism financing and to encourage other nations to do the same.
2. Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally.
3. Deters donations or contributions to and economic transactions with named organizations.
4. Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations.
5. Signals to other governments our concern about named organizations.
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