UN IDs leading ISIL commanders, operatives

Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United Nations has identified leading members of Al Qaida’s network in Iraq and Syria.

The UN Security Council designated six Al Qaida operatives for international sanctions, imposing a travel ban and freezing any assets.

Abu Mohammed Al Adani
Abu Mohammed Al Adani

The six included leading members of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as well as the Nusra Front for the Defense of Levant.

“They cannot survive independent of the outside world and if that support from the outside world can been choked off then this organization will not have the resources to continue its activities,” council president Mark Grant, Britain’s ambassador to the UN, said.

The operatives blacklisted on Aug. 15 included Abu Mohammed Al Adani, an Iraqi deemed a leading aide to ISIL commander Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.

Diplomats said Al Adani held the rank of “emir,” or prince, usually reserved for a regional chief.

The others on the list were all identified with Nusra. Said Arif, an alleged senior operative of Nusra. Arif was described as a former Algerian Army officer who escaped France in 2013 and fled to Syria.

Abdullah Al Charekh was identified as a Saudi national and “leading terrorist Internet propagandist.”

Diplomats said Al Charekh was the commander for Nusra in the Latakia province of Syria. Another Saudi on the list was Abdul Rahman Al Jahani, responsible for the foreign fighters’ contingent of Nusra.

The resolution also cited two Kuwaiti nationals, Hamid Al Ali and Hajaj Al Ajmi. Both were cited by the United States and identified as leading financiers of Nusra.

“The threat posed by them was growing and had undermined security of the people in Iraq and Syria and in the region,” Grant said.

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