DON MACDONALD www.canda.com The Gazette 1/17/07

The groups decried as discriminatory a Royal Bank decision to deny U.S. dollar accounts to citizens of six sanctioned countries – including Iraq, Iran and Sudan – even if those customers also hold Canadian citizenship.

Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, said that the Royal Bank and other banks should refuse to comply with U.S. regulations, and he called on the prime minister to fight Washington for infringing on Canadian sovereignty.

“It’s unacceptable,” he said in a telephone interview from Waterloo, Ont.

“It seems the Americans are blackmailing Canadian banks to follow their policy.

“We will ask the prime minister to intervene to protect Canadian citizens, immigrants and visa holders from intimidation by Americans.”

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