US designates 3 individuals affiliated with al Qaeda as global terrorists

Washington, January 5: The United States on Thursday declared three individuals affiliated with al Qaeda as a global terrorist in a bid to isolate the groups and preventing them from using the US financial system.

 

Notably, the US State Department has designated Muhammad al-Ghazali, Abukar Ali Adan, and Wanas al-Faqih as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. While designating these three individuals, the State Department in a statement said that they were affiliated with either Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Shabaab or Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

“Today’s action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that Muhammad al-Ghazali, Wanas al-Faqih, and Abukar Ali Adan have committed acts of terrorism. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other governments,” the statement noted.

However, these designations impose strict sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. Among the consequences of these designations, all of their property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.

Al-Ghazali is a senior member of AQAP who is involved in internal security and training of the group’s operatives. Abukar Ali Adan is deputy leader of al-Shabaab. Wanas al-Faqih is an AQIM associate who planned the March 18, 2015 Bardo Museum attack in Tunis, Tunisia that killed at least 20 people.