WASHINGTON, June 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The Bush administration is planning new measures that would target the US assets of anyone doing business with entities in Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Syria thought to be involved in weapons programs, The Washington Post said Monday.

    US President George W. Bush is expected to sign an executive order in early July to halt the spread of weapons "by authorizing the blocking or 'freezing' of assets of WMD proliferators and their supporters," the report said.

    The effort would begin by targeting just eight entities, seven of which are suspected of working on missile programs, and not on chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, according to the report.

    A government list obtained by the Post showed that four companies identified are Iranian, including Iran's Energy Department, three are from the DPRK, and one is a Syrian government research facility.

    Three of the eight have been targets of US sanctions, but none is subject to any international sanctions, and the entities freelyconduct business with companies around the world, the Post said.

    The order goes beyond previous measures by threatening US assets of individuals or companies, including foreign banks, that do business with those on the list, the report said.

    "If there is a bank in some European capital that is participating in working with one of the entities and that bank has some assets in the US, it is conceivable that some action could be taken to the bank's assets here," a senior official was quoted as saying. Enditem