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The Department of State has officially designated two terrorists affiliated with ISIL as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”
They are Said Arif and Abu Mohammed al-Adnani.
The designation was done under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.
The State Department says, “The consequences of this designation include a prohibition against U.S. persons engaging in transactions with [Arif and] al-Adnani, and the freezing of all property and interests of [Arif and] al-Adnani that are in the United States, or come within the United States or the possession or control of U.S. persons.”
Both men were “also included in the annex of the recently adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2170, which condemns the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusrah Front, both designated by the Department of State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, as well as all other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with al-Qa’ida,” says State.
Both men will also be added to the UN 1267/1989 al-Qa’ida Sanctions list, requiring all member states to implement an assets freeze, a travel ban, and an arms embargo against both Arif and al-Adnani.
Said Arif is an Algerian army officer deserter, who travelled to Afghanistan in the 1990s, where he trained in al-Qa’ida camps with weapons and explosives. Arif is a long-time terrorist who was a suspect in the al-Qa’ida December 2000 plot to bomb the Strasbourg Christmas market.
In 2003, Arif was arrested and was put on trial in France with 25 others as part of the “Chechen Network.” In 2002 the Chechen Network was accused of plotting to blow up the Eiffel Tower and conduct chemical attacks and attacks on malls and police stations in France. In 2006, Arif was convicted and sentenced for his role in these planned attacks. After his arrest, Arif publicly declared that al-Qa’ida was planning to attack an American military base in Spain using chemical weapons.
Said Arif is also wanted by the Government of France and Interpol; both issued arrest warrants for Arif. In October 2013, Arif fled house arrest in France in a stolen car and joined the terrorist group al-Nusrah Front.
Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, born Taha Sobhi Falaha in Syria, is the official spokesman for and a senior leader of ISIL.
Al-Adnani is ISIL’s main conduit for the dissemination of official messages, including ISIL’s declaration of the creation of an Islamic Caliphate. Al-Adnani was one of the first foreign fighters to oppose Coalition forces in Iraq before becoming ISIL’s spokesman.
This news comes as U.S. military forces continued to conduct airstrikes in Iraq over the weekend, using fighter and attack aircraft to attack ISIL terrorists near Mosul Dam.
DoD:
The strikes destroyed three ISIL armed vehicles, an ISIL vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft artillery gun, an ISIL checkpoint and an IED emplacement.
These strikes are in addition to the 14 strikes in the same vicinity announced earlier today by U.S. Central Command and the nine airstrikes conducted yesterday.
All aircraft exited the strike area safely.
These strikes were conducted under authority to support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish defense forces as they work together to combat ISIL, as well as to protect critical infrastructure, U.S. personnel and facilities and support humanitarian efforts there.
Also over the weekend, and perhaps surprisingly, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday” that the U.S. might need “some boots on the ground” to fight the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), adding that the U.S. should consider airstrikes in Syria.
“Ultimately we may have some boots on the ground there…We need to do everything we can to repel ISIS. I don’t think we have the luxury of putting our heads in the sand and saying, well, it’s over there and we’re not going to do it,” Engel said.
Sources: Terrorist Designation of Said Arif; Terrorist Designation of Abu Mohammed al-Adnani
