Plaid Cymru the Party of Wales in the European Parliament has welcomed a vote by a large majority in favour of a common European approach to freezing terrorists funds, after crucial amendments protecting civil liberties were adopted by the plenary in Strasbourg this week.

Jill Evans MEP, the party's leader in the European Parliament, said:

"The European Parliament has been asked to act urgently and decisively to freeze funds that could be used for terrorists. We have risen to this challenge, and in doing so have made essential amendments to protect liberties of innocent people.

"Freezing financial assets is an effective and non-military means to combat terrorism. We have insisted that all measures for combating terrorism remain subject to judicial safeguards. We have also set an expiry date for this emergency legislation to ensure that it is thoroughly revised before the end of 2003.

"We are nevertheless worried that this regulation is still not based on a precise definition of terrorism. There are risks that a wide definition of the term could result in innocent people and organisations being made targets when exercising their legitimate right to peaceful and democratic resistance. There are also reasoned doubts about the way the list of names of organisations presented was compiled. Some questions remain unanswered, such as the method used to add names to the list in the future."

Ms Evans has also sent a message of support to the Rally and Peace March organised by CND Cymru to be held in Cardiff tomorrow. In it she reiterates the call she made at the recent Plaid Cymru conference, when there was support for the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court, which would allow those accused of crimes against humanity to be brought to justice. She added:

"The European Union must engage itself in conflict prevention and resolution which addresses the causes and not merely the symptoms of international terrorism, and to enter into discussions with the US, in conjunction with the United Nations, with the view to agreeing a way forward for bringing guilty parties to justice, and dealing with all aspects of the new terrorist threats, including the social and political causes."

Diwedd/Ends.