U.N. lifts sanctions on 45 Taliban & Al Qaeda, Russia hesitates

Yesterday the United Nations Al-Qaida & Taliban Sanctions Committee announced the de-listing of ten Taliban members and 35 Al Qaeda members or affiliated companies from their sanctions list.  Names of five of the Taliban members had been announced last week. 

Eight of the individuals are thought to be dead, although the U.N. is opaque on how it verified the deaths of the individuals delisted.  Presumably, the de-listing of dead jihadists would free the assets of terrorists to be released to their heirs, although none of the wire reporters has looked into this question yet.

Any de-listing requires the unanimous vote of the sanctions committee.  The committee is made up of all 15 members of the Security Council, of which the U.S. is a member.  Naturally, this means that the United States, Amb. Susan Rice, and the Obama administration support the removal of names. 

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, “Russia, which sits on the committee along with the other 14 Security Council members, had been cautious about deleting names, U.N. diplomats said. Russia is concerned about Islamic fundamentalism and Taliban-linked drug-trafficking in its region, they said.”

What the de-listing by the U.N. means for the affected individuals and companies is:

• no more frozen assets
• no travel restrictions
• no longer being subject to an arms embargo

Several money transfer agencies, including al-Barakaat Wiring Service which operated in Minnesota, were included in the de-listing.  This means that sanctioned Somali hawaladars in Minneapolis can go back in business.