18 December 2003
U.N. Report Says Iraq Has Become "Readily Accessible" to al-Qaida
U.N. Committee Issues Warning about Growing Terrorist Threat
By Judy Aita
Washington File Special Correspondent
United Nations -- A U.N. Security Council report says Iraq has become "readily accessible" to al-Qaida followers anxious to take up the battle against Western forces.
A written report released by the Security Council al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Monitoring Group December 16 says many coordinated attacks in Iraq, including the bombing of U.N. headquarters in August, bear earmarks of al-Qaida operations. It added that al-Qaida operatives are smuggling shoulder-fired missiles and other weapons out of Iraq for use in other countries.
The report said the scope of Security Council resolutions designed to thwart terrorist activities as well as the incomplete implementation of the resolutions are insufficient to prevent al-Qaida from obtaining the weapons and explosives it needs to carry out attacks.
The risk of al-Qaida members acquiring and using weapons of mass destruction continues to grow, the report said. More and more attacks are being perpetrated, especially by suicide bombers, and no region has been spared, the report said.
"They have already taken the decision to use chemical and biological weapons in their forthcoming attacks. The only restraint they are facing is the technical complexity of operating them properly and effectively. Their possible use of a dirty bomb is also of great concern," it said.
The committee's monitors visited several Middle East countries and found that many were aware that weapons were crossing their borders but indicated that they had great difficulties controlling the illegal traffic, the report said. Yemeni officials, for example, told the monitors that most of the illegal weapons entering the country were coming from Somalia.
"The international community must remain alert also to the increasing availability of man-portable, air-defense systems to non-state actors," the report said. "The group considered it important that measures be initiated by the United Nations to harmonize the various controls necessary to ensure that such missiles cannot be acquired by al-Qaida or its associates."
The group called for a tougher and more comprehensive resolution, which clarifies obligations on states and requires states to take the measures set out in the Security Council sanctions resolutions.
"[W]ithout a much tougher and more comprehensive resolution, in which the Security Council requests states to take the mandated measures and obliges them to cooperate fully with the committee and its monitoring group, little or no progress will be achieved with regard to the sanctions regime imposed on Usama bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban, and associated individuals and entities under the auspices of the Security Council," the report said.
The committee identified four areas of concern: abuse of charities, use of shell companies, unknown whereabouts of a large number of identified terrorists, and monitoring implementation of the arms embargo.
The current U.N. list of individuals and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, al-Qaida and the Taliban contains 371 names. But the committee said the list "represents only a small subset of individuals and entities associated with the al-Qaida network" and reflects "a continuing reluctance by many nations to provide names to the committee."
The report noted that while the international financial community is devoting significantly increased resources to cutting off al-Qaida financing, "many al-Qaida sources of funding have not been uncovered and al-Qaida continues to receive funds it needs from charities, deep-pocket donors, and business and criminal activities, including the drug trade."
"Extensive use is still being made of alternative remittance systems, and al-Qaida has shifted much of its financial activity to areas in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia where the authorities lack the resources or the resolve to closely regulate such activity," the report said.
Controlling charities used or abused for terrorist purposes is proving "extremely difficult," the report said. "The close association of such charities with both religious and humanitarian relief purposes has made government regulation and oversight very sensitive."
One example of al-Qaida use of charities and the difficulties of dealing with the situation touches directly on the activities of one of the largest Islamic charities, the International Islamic Relief Organization, the report said.
"Most of the organization's activities relate to religious, educational, social and humanitarian programs, but it and some of its constituent organizations have also been used to assist in al-Qaida financing," the document said.
Another difficult problem is the use of shell companies and offshore trusts to hide the identity of individuals or entities financing terrorism. The issue is complicated further by the reluctance of nations to freeze tangible assets such as businesses or property, it said.
The report named two individuals, Youssef Nada and Idris Nasreddin, as having used shell companies, offshore trusts and other beneficial ownership arrangements to circumvent U.N. sanctions to support al-Qaida.
The whereabouts of most of the 272 individuals on the watch list are unknown, the report pointed out. In addition, the list has not kept pace with events on the ground. It contains only 272 names despite the fact that some 4,000 individuals have been arrested or detained on the basis of their links with al-Qaida in 102 countries.
"This calls for more proactive measures by states to enforce the objectives of the travel ban," the report said.
The Sanctions Committee continues to encounter serious difficulties in monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the arms embargo, the report said.
"Countries are reluctant to provide information concerning their seizures of illegal weapons and explosives believed destined for al-Qaida, the Taliban and their associates," the report said.
The al-Qaida sanctions committee was set up in 1999 under resolution 1267 to target individuals and entities belonging to or associated with the al Qaida terrorist group and the then ruling Taliban in Afghanistan in an effort to stop the activities of those groups by freezing assets, imposing travel bans and establishing an arms embargo. In the ensuing years, the council passed additional resolutions in an effort to make the sanctions more effective.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=December&x=20031218154846atia0.4845545&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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