JS-2370: Al-Zarqawi Financier Designated by the Treasury



	FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS April 13, 2005 JS-2370 Al-Zarqawi Financier Designated by the Treasury The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Bilal Mansur Al-Hiyari for providing financial support to the Zarqawi Network, an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist group active in the insurgency in Iraq. "By designating financiers like Al-Hiyari, we're making it harder and riskier for the Zarqawi Network to raise and move money in support of its brutal attacks against U.S. troops, coalition partners and the Iraqi people," said Robert Werner, Director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). "Today's action is the third in a series of strikes by the U.S. Government to undercut the financial foundations of the Zarqawi Network." The U.S. and Iraq are submitting Al-Hiyari to the United Nations 1267 Committee, which will consider adding him to the consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaida, UBL and the Taliban. Al-Hiyari became acquainted with Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the Zarqawi Network's notorious leader, in 1989 when they met in Afghanistan. According to information available to the U.S. Government, their relationship continued through the mid-1990s, when Al-Hiyari returned to Jordan where al-Zarqawi was serving out a sentence in Jordanian prison. According to information available to the U.S. Government, Al-Hiyari traveled to Iraq in 2003 where he sent funds to support al-Zarqawi's operations through several of al-Zarqawi's messengers. In October 2004, the State Security Court of Jordan convicted Al-Hiyari of providing funds to the Zarqawi Network. At the conclusion of his trial, however, he was released from prison. Al-Zarqawi was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) on September 23, 2003. The Zarqawi Network, also know as Jama'at al Tawhid wal Jihad and Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a SDGT on October 15, 2004. Identifying Information Bilal Mansur Al-Hiyari AKA: Bilal Mansur Mahmud Al-Khayari DOB: Circa 1969 POB: al-Salt, Jordan Nationality: Jordanian Address: Suwaylah, Jordan Al-Hiyari was designated today pursuant to Executive Order 13224 chiefly pursuant to paragraphs (d)(i) and (d)(ii) based on a determination that he assists in, sponsors or provides financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, or is otherwise associated with, persons listed as subject to E.O. 13224. This individual also meets the standard for inclusion in the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee's consolidated list because of the support provided to UBL, al Qaida or the Taliban. Inclusion on the 1267 Committee's list triggers international obligations on all member countries, requiring them to freeze the assets and prevent the travel of listed individuals and to block the sale of arms and military equipment. Publicly identifying these supporters of terrorism is a critical part of the international campaign to counter terrorism. Additionally, other organizations and individuals are put on notice that they are prohibited from doing business with them. Blocking actions are critical to combating the financing of terrorism. When an action is put into place, any assets existing in the formal financial system at the time of the order are to be frozen. Blocking actions serve additional functions as well, acting as a deterrent for non-designated parties who might otherwise be willing to finance terrorist activity; exposing terrorist financing "money trails" that may generate leads to previously unknown terrorist cells and financiers; disrupting terrorist financing networks by encouraging designated terrorist supporters to disassociate themselves from terrorist activity and renounce their affiliation with terrorist groups; terminating terrorist cash flows by shutting down the pipelines used to move terrorist-related assets; forcing terrorists to use alternative, more costly and higher-risk means of financing their activities; and engendering international cooperation and compliance with obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions.