Counterterrorism Blog
The first multi-expert blog dedicated solely to counterterrorism issues, serving as a gateway to the community for policymakers and serious researchers. Designed to provide realtime information about terrorism cases and policy developments.
 

Treasury Designates Individuals with Ties to Syria, Al Qaida, and Sunni Terrorists

By Andrew Cochran

The U.S. Treasury continued its campaign to squeeze the finances of Al Qaida in Iraq and Sunni terrorists in Iraq by designating seven individuals with ties to the insurgency and Saddam Hussein's regime. One was designated for supporting Al-Qaida in Iraq, while the six other individuals were senior regime officials or their immediate family members, some of whom support the insurgents. Several of the designated individuals are residing in and under the protection of Syria, and the Iraqi government has demanded that the Syrians arrest them and turn them over.

Among the designated are the following:

  • Fawzi Mutlaq Al-Rawi, appointed leader of the Iraqi wing of the Syrian Ba’th Party by Syrian President Assad in 2003, was designated for providing financial and material support to Al Qaida in Iraq. In November 2005 he facilitated the provision of $300,000 to Al Qaida and provided IEDs, rifles, and suicide bombers. He was a key leader in 2005 of a unified terrorist command betweem former regime elements and Al Qaida. Al-Rawi is still supported by the Syrian Government and is closely tied to Syrian Intelligence, whose leader, Asif Shawkat, was named a Specially Designated National in January 2006 for furthering Syria’s support for terrorism in Lebanon. In 2004, Al-Rawi ensured that former regime elements fighting the coaltion would receive material aid from Syria.
  • The son of Al-Tikriti, the former Iraqi Minister of the Interior who was designated in June 2003. According to the Treasury Department release, the son has supported the Sunni insurgency and "transported money into Iraq for insurgents and facilitates foreign fighter movement into Iraq."
  • Thabet Al-Duri, former Ba’th Party branch secretary and governor of Basra under Saddam.
  • Hasan Hashim Al-Dulaymi, former regime official who directed an anti-coalition cell in Baghdad in late 2003. The Treasury release states that "Al-Dulaymi is in contact with leading former regime officials, including designated former regime officials Muhammad Yunis Ahmad, Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri and Taha Yasin Ramadan."

For past CT Blog posts on the success of the joint Treasury-Defense Department anti-terrorist financing effort in Iraq, see:

In "Call for Donations," Al Qaeda Admits Financial Stress;

U.S. "Iraq Threat Finance Cell" Puncturing Insurgents' Financial Network; and

"Fighting Terrorist Financing: Canada's Problems and Pentagon's "Threat Finance" Initiatives"

In my opinion. the designations once again show how useless it is to consider Syria as a potential partner in any kind of "Grand Bargain" for Mideast peace. The Assad regime has been eye-deep for years in the terrorists' killings of American soldiers and innocent Iraqis; to even consider the possibility that Assad would suddenly "see the light" strikes me as beyond wishful thinking.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://counterterrorismblog.org/mt/pings.cgi/4655