Albania Seizes Apartment Of Bin Laden Associate

TIRANA (AP)--Police said Thursday they had seized an apartment belonging to a man alleged to have worked with Osama bin Laden on setting up militant networks in Albania.

Police took control Wednesday of a three-room apartment belonging to Abdul Latif Saleh, who holds Jordanian and Albanian citizenship, in Kukes, 200 kilometers northeast of the capital Tirana, a statement said.

Saleh was placed on a U.N. sanctions list in September, requiring all U.N. members to impose a travel ban on him and block his assets. Saleh is also being investigated for alleged money-laundering for al-Qaida.

He left Albania four years ago when investigations into his activities began.

In September the U.S. Treasury Department ordered U.S. banks to freeze any bank accounts or other financial assets belonging to Saleh and prohibited Americans from doing business with him.

The department alleged that bin Laden provided Saleh with funds to encourage the creation of "extremist groups" in Albania, where he is believed to be closely associated with groups linked to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a group connected to al-Qaida.