Russian Finance Ministry Will Not Investigate Banking Operations Linked To US Terror

Gennady Yezhov, press secretary to Russian Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin, announced on Wednesday that the ministry was not scrutinising any banking operations that could be linked to the September 11th terrorist attacks in the USA. Yezhov said that the country's law enforcement agencies would have to take the measures, such as opening a criminal case or freezing accounts, for bank accounts to be open to investigation. The press secretary said that law enforcement agencies had not opened any cases in to the US explosions, while their American colleagues had not turned to Russia with a request to freeze any accounts. According to Yezhov, Kudrin will hold a working meeting with the heads of Russia's law enforcement agencies aimed at countering the financing of international terrorism. The press secretary stressed that a meeting between G8 finance ministers, which is scheduled to be held in Washington at the end of this week, would be dedicated to this problem. Kudrin has been invited to take part in the meeting between finance ministers and central bank chiefs, Gennady Yezhov said.