December 7, 2007
HP-720

Treasury Designates Individuals with Ties
to Al Qaida, Former Regime

Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated seven individuals with ties to the Iraqi insurgency and the former Iraqi regime.  One individual was designated for providing financial and material support to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and the six other individuals were designated as senior officials of the former Iraqi regime or their immediate family members, some of whom provided financial and material support to Iraq insurgents.      

"The United States is acting today against former regime elements and others supporting the Iraqi insurgency out of Syria," said Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.  "Syria must take action to deny safe haven to those supporting violence from within its borders."

Fawzi Mutlaq Al-Rawi was designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which is aimed at terrorists and those providing them with financial and other support. The other six individuals were designated pursuant to Executive Order 13315, which targets senior officials of the former Iraqi regime or their immediate family members. 

Designations under E.O. 13224 and E.O. 13315 are implemented by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and prohibit all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person and freeze any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

Identifying Information

Fawzi Mutlaq Al-Rawi
AKAs:                        
AL-RAWI, Fawzi Isma'il Al-Husayni
ABU FIRAS
ABU AKRAM                      
Title:                           
Chairman of the Iraqi Wing of the Syrian Ba'th Party
DOB:                         
1940
POB:                          
Rawah City, Iraq
Nationality:                
Iraqi
Citizenship:                
Syrian
Location:                    
Damascus, Syria
Address:                     
Syrian Government-owned apartment, Al-Mazzah district, Damascus, as of several years ago
Office Location:        
Syrian Ba'th Party Command Building, Al-Halbuni district, Damascus, as of several years ago

Fawzi Mutlaq Al-Rawi, the leader of the Iraqi wing of the Syrian Ba'th Party, was designated under E.O. 13224 for providing financial and material support to AQI.

Al-Rawi in November 2005 facilitated the provision of $300,000 to members of AQI.  In addition, he provided AQI with vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, rifles, and suicide bombers at the request of a senior AQI leader in Iraq.  Al-Rawi and that same leader in September 2005 attended a meeting in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, with other senior AQI representatives where they discussed financing, unifying AQI forces, conducting airborne improvised explosive device attacks against the U.S. Embassy, and concentrating attacks against the international zone.

As of March 2005, Al-Rawi was present at regular meetings to plan funding for Muhammad Yunis Ahmad's network in Iraq.  Ahmad, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13315 in June 2005 and named on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 list, has provided guidance, financial support, and coordination for insurgent attacks throughout Iraq.  Al-Rawi also ran a charity organization which was actually a front for funding the network.  As of December 2006, Al-Rawi continued to support AQI, meeting regularly with a senior member of the organization to discuss funding and to plan future operations in Iraq.

Al-Rawi was appointed leader of the Iraqi wing of the Syrian Ba'th Party by Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad in 2003. The Iraqi wing of the Syrian Ba'th Party has since provided significant funding to Iraqi insurgents at Al-Rawi's direction.  Al-Rawi is supported financially by the Syrian Government, and has close ties to Syrian Intelligence.  He has met with Syrian Intelligence Director Asif Shawkat, and has received financial support directly from Dhu al-Himma al-Shalish, former Chief of Asad's Presidential Security Guard.  Shawkat was named a Specially Designated National pursuant to E.O. 13338 on January 18, 2006 for directly furthering the Government of Syria's support for terrorism and interference in the sovereignty of Lebanon.  Shalish was named a Specially Designated National pursuant to E.O. 13315 in June 2005 for acting on behalf of Saddam Hussein's former regime. 

Under the authorization of the Syrian government, Al-Rawi in 2004 met twice with a former commander of Saddam Hussein's Army of Muhammad – a militant group formed by Saddam Hussein to fight against Coalition forces in Iraq.  Al-Rawi reportedly informed the commander that the Army of Muhammad would receive material aid from Syria in the form of goods given to the Army for resale in Iraq rather than money, due to international concerns that Syria was supporting terrorism and the resistance in Iraq. 

Hasan Hashim Khalaf Al-Dulaymi
AKA:                         
WISSAM, Abu
DOB:                         
1942
POB:                          
Baghdad, Iraq
Nationality:                
Iraqi
Address:                     
30th Street, Al-Yarmuk Area of Jadat Al-Jaysh District of Damascus, Syria
Alt Address:              
House #43, Lane #17, Subdivision #808, Al-Dawrah, Baghdad, Iraq                                                             

Hasan Hashim Al-Dulaymi was designated under E.O. 13315 as a senior official of the former Iraqi regime.  In 2005, Al-Dulaymi was a deputy of Syria-based Muhammad Yunis Ahmad, a financial facilitator and operational leader who helped reconstitute the Iraqi Ba'th Party. In late 2004, Al-Dulaymi served as a principal assistant to Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri and visited Baghdad to coordinate insurgent activities.  Additionally, Al-Dulaymi directed an anti-coalition cell in Baghdad in late 2003. 

In addition, Al-Dulaymi, who operates out of Syria and Iraq, has been an active member of the Iraqi Ba'th Party and served as the Ba'th Party Treasury Secretary under Saddam Hussein's regime. The Central Criminal Court of Iraq in July 2006 named Al-Dulaymi on their list of 41 most-wanted individuals and issued a warrant for his arrest.  Currently, 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. 

Ahmed Watban Ibrahim Hasan Al-Tikriti
AKAs:                        
AL-TIKRITI, Ahmad Watban Ibrahim Hasan          
MUHAWDAR, `Imad `Udi  
DOB:                         
1975
ALT DOB:                 
1979
POB:                          
Baghdad, Iraq
Nationality:                
Iraqi
Address:                     
Al-Ra'is building Mina Street, Tartus City, Tartus Province Syria
Address:                     
Jirmanah neighborhood, Damascus, Syria
Address:                     
Al-Hadda Hotel, Sana'a, Yemen

Syria-based Ahmed Watban Ibrahim Hasan Al-Tikriti is the son of Watban Ibrahim Hasan Al-Tikriti – the former Iraqi Minister of the Interior – who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13315 in June 2003.  Ahmed Watban has provided financial and operational support to the Iraq insurgency.  He also has transported money into Iraq for insurgents and facilitates foreign fighter movement into Iraq. The Central Criminal Court of Iraq has issued a warrant for Ahmed Watban's arrest. 

Ahmad Muhammad Yunis Al-Ahmad
AKAs:                        
AL-BADANI, Ahmad Muhammad Mahmud 'Abdallah                  
AL-BARRANI, Ahmad Muhammad Al-Abdullah
Nationality:                
Iraqi
DOB:                         
19 September 1978
POB:                          
Al-Anbar, Iraq
Passport number:        
347417, expiration 19 February 2011 
Passport number:        
H0347417, expiration 19 February 2011
Date of Issue:             
20 February 2003
Place of Issue:            
Al-Anbar, Iraq
Address:                     
Al-Mazzah Al-Jabal District
6 Subdistrict, 3 area Al-Iskan complex 40/2, Fifth floor
Damascus, Syria 

Syria-based Ahmad Muhammad Yunis Al-Ahmad is a son of Muhammad Yunis Ahmad – a financial facilitator and operational leader of the New Regional Command of the reconstituted Ba'th Party – who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13315 on June 17, 2005.  Al-Ahmad helped transport funds belonging to his father, Muhammad Yunis Ahmad and Saddam Hussein from Iraq to Syria before the fall of the Hussein regime. The Central Criminal Court of Iraq issued a warrant for Al-Ahmad's arrest on January 9, 2005.

Sa'ad Muhammad Yunis Al-Ahmad
DOB:                         
1 Jan 1981
POB:                          
Baghdad
Nationality:                
Iraqi
Iraq National ID:       
159014
Address:                     
Damascus, Syria

Thabet Al-Duri
DOB:                         
1943 or 1944
POB:                          
Dur, Iraq
Address:                     
Karkh District, Baghdad, Iraq
Address:                     
Rukan al-Din, Syria           

Thabet Al-Duri, who operates out of Syria and Iraq, served as a former regime Ba'th Party branch secretary and a general manager for the Party's regional security office. He was also the governor of Basra under the former Iraqi regime. 

Hatem Hamdan Al-Azawi
DOB:                         
circa 1937
Address:                     
Diyali, Al-Khalis Sector, Iraq
Address:                     
Deli Abbas, Iraq                    

Hatam Hamdan Al-Azawi, formerly a close associate of Saddam Hussein, served as the head of Saddam's presidential administration.  Al-Azawi obtained a fraudulent diplomatic passport and fled to Syria after the fall of the Iraqi regime. Al-Azawi worked to reconstitute the Iraqi Ba'th Party.