The New York Times January 25, 1995, p. A9. [Excerpts] Clinton Orders Assets of Suspected Terrorist Groups Frozen By Douglas Jehl Washington, Jan. 24 -- Seeking to underscore an American commitment to the fight against terrorism, President Clinton today issued an executive order intended to cut off the flow of funds from United States citizens to organizations suspected of terrorist activities in Israel and other countries. Mr. Clinton's directive orders American financial institutions to search for and immediately freeze any accounts held in the names of Hamas, Islamic Holy War and 10 other organizations, and 18 of their top leaders. It also forbids financial transfers from the United States to those groups and individuals and will seek to prevent them from gaining access to donations made to charitable causes in the Middle East. Administration officials said it was too soon to know whether any assets would be uncovered. While today's announcement at the White House emerged from an Administration review concluding that the United States could do more to limit terrorists' access to money, aides to Mr. Clinton acknowledged that the timing had been largely dictated by the quest for a tough-worded centerpiece to the State of the Union address. The aides said Mr. Clinton intended to use the speech in part to demonstrate his commitment to preserving foreign policy gains in the Middle East against those who would scuttle peace efforts. Even if the groups identified today do not hold accounts in their names, the officials said the directive could give the Government more power to block and deter transfers to them -- even when those are disguised as contributions to charity. "It is not foolprooof," a senior Administration official said at a White House briefing this afternoon. "It is capable of being circumvented through a variety of strategems." But another official said the measures could "essentially sever the lifeline that keeps these organizations going." *** A statement issued by three major American Islamic organizations warned that the initiative could "have a negative impact on legitimate political expression by American Muslims and others." But advocates of the plan said it represented no more than a first step, even though Administration officials said they would need to see further evidence that charitable contributions were being used to support terrorist operations before the Government would seek to block operations by Muslim and Islamic groups active in raising money in the United States. Administration officials say that much of that money is used for legitimate purposes in building mosques, providing food and milk and otherwise helping Palestinian communities like the ones in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. But State Department officials have said that millions of dollars a year from the United States ends up in the hands of militants in the Hamas organizatlon, whose total spending is estlmated by Israeli officlals at $30 million a year and they said a test of the initiative would be whether it could cut back that flow. For now, the names of groups and individuals whose assets are to be frozen or blocked unaer Mr. Clinton's order reads like a who's who list of organzations and people identified as terrorists. In addition to Hamas and Islamic Holy War, they include the Palestine Liberation Front and its leader, Mohammed Abul Abbas -- also known as Abu Abbas -- as well as the two rival factions of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The list also includes two militant Jewish organizations, Kach and Kahane Chai, which were spawned by Rabbi Meir Kahane and were outlawed by Israel early last year. The authority that Mr. Clinton invoked today in blocking the assets is provided to the President under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which was used by President Carter to freeze Iranian assets when Americans were being held hostage in Teheran. But the White House made clear that Mr. Clinton intended to ask Congress soon for even more sweeping authority to curb terrorism, including wider powers to use wiretapping and swift deportation procedures against suspects. ---------- End The New York Times January 25, 1995, p. B6. Head of the F.B.I.In New York Resigns After a year as the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York office, William A. Gavin said yesterday that he was leaving for an executive post with a medical-care company. Mr. Gavin, 53, said he would retire in March as a deputy assistant F.B.I. director to join U.S. Healthcare, in Blue Bell, Pa, one of the country's largest health maintenance organizations. The F.B.I. has a mandatory retirement age of 57. Last January, Louis J. Freeh, the F.B.I. director, named Mr. Gavin to run the office at an annual salary of $130,000. But he was not promoted to the title of assistant director, the rank normally given to the agency's top manager in New York, one of the agency's most prestigious assignments. An agent and supervisor for 27 years, Mr. Gavin was in charge of the investigations that led to the convictions of four men for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the indictments of 12 other men accused of plotting to blow up the trade center and other New York Iandmarks. The 12 defendants are currently on trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Law-enforcement officials said yesterday that James Kallstrom, a supervisory agent in New York, was considered the most likely candidate to be chosen by Mr. Freeh to take over the office. Mr. Kallstrom is now in charge of special operations, the unit responsible for the surveillance and the electronic monitoring of criminal suspects. ---------- End