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New US move to halt arms proliferation

A Bush administration plan targeting assets of companies doing business with North Korea, Iran and Syria will give the United States an important new tool as it seeks to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction, U.S. officials and experts said on Monday.

President George W. Bush is expected to sign an executive order this week giving the Treasury Department new powers to pursue the assets of companies believed to be helping the three states acquire technology for use in nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as missiles, U.S. officials said.

The authority is like that which allows U.S. officials to go after companies financing extremist groups, officials said.

The new order could come on Wednesday when the White House responds to the recommendations of a presidential commission on weapons of mass destruction that found much intelligence on Iraqi programs was wrong.

The panel, led by Judge Laurence Silberman and former Virginia Democratic Sen. Charles Robb, called for a broad overhaul in the intelligence community to increase information sharing among the 15 agencies and foster dissenting views.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the executive order is one of the panel's recommendations.

"We have been reviewing those recommendations ... (and) that review is nearing completion," he told reporters.

The new order, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is expected to name specific Iranian, North Korean and Syrian firms. But Americans may also be affected.

"Any entity associated with companies identified in the executive order could have assets frozen here in the United States," a senior U.S. official said.

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