Small Wars Journal

Accused Terrorists Use Loopholes to Tap Frozen Funds

Thu, 06/20/2019 - 8:10am

Accused Terrorists Use Loopholes to Tap Frozen Funds by Ian Talley and Bradley Hope – Wall Street Journal

Loopholes in U.N. Security Council sanctions procedures are allowing blacklisted al Qaeda and Islamic State terrorists and their supporters to tap their bank accounts despite a U.N. asset freeze, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter.

Those gaining access to their funds include Khalifa al-Subaiy, a Qatari financier who the U.S. says long provided financial support to senior al Qaeda leadership, including Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Mr. Subaiy was added to the United Nations terror blacklist in 2008, but the U.N. has allowed him since then to take up to $10,000 a month from frozen accounts for “basic necessities,” according to the documents and people familiar with the matter. Mr. Subaiy didn’t respond to requests for comment.

U.N. records show that the Security Council allowed blacklisted individuals to access their accounts on 71 out of 72 requests between 2008 and 2018…

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