Five men have been arrested in the US on charges of having financial dealings with a senior member of the Islamic movement Hamas, who has been officially designated a terrorist. They are employees of Texas computer firm Infocom, and have also been accused of exporting computers and parts to Syria and Libya without the required licences. One of them, vice-president of Infocom, Ghassan Elashi, used to be director of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was shut down in December 2001 accused of being a front for Hamas. 'We will pursue the financiers of terror as aggressively as we pursue the thugs who do their dirty work,' said US attorney general John Ashcroft, announcing the arrests at a press conference.