Global Policy Forum

By Colum Lynch

Fifteen months after the U.N. Security Council imposed travel and arms sanctions on individuals linked to al Qaeda, no terrorist or weapon targeted by the embargo has been detained or seized in transit across an international border, according to a draft of a U.N. report. "Despite the travel ban, members of the al Qaeda network have retained a high degree of mobility, and have been able to carry out and contribute to terrorist attacks in several countries around the world," says the report, which has not been made public.

The failure of the U.N. embargo to halt the movement of al Qaeda members underscores the challenges of applying sanctions against an elusive target whose members often travel in disguise and with a ready supply of false passports. It also reflects the shortcomings of a U.N. list of more than 220 alleged terrorists or entities with alleged links to al Qaeda. The list is used for targeting suspected militants. Many of the names on the list are misspelled or some the suspects are inadequately identified, the report says.

The 42-page draft report of the United Nations' al Qaeda sanctions panel -- which was established by the Security Council after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- provides a survey of the state of the international war on terrorism. Despite some setbacks, the report maintains that the U.S.-led war against al Qaeda has made major strides that have led to the capture of several senior al Qaeda members, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the organization's third-highest-ranking official, and Abu Zubaida, its chief of operations.

The arrests of members of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's original "command team . . . significantly dented its operational capability and provided critical intelligence concerning the network," the report says. But it says successful attacks in Casablanca, Morocco, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the past two months show that al Qaeda adherents are "still willing and able to strike at targets of their choosing." The Casablanca bombing, which was carried out by local operatives with no known links to al Qaeda, demonstrated that al Qaeda has the capacity to recruit a new generation of militants, the report says. It says al Qaeda is also exhibiting a "new boldness," striking a well-defended target in Saudi Arabia, where suicide bombers fought their way into three western housing compounds on May 12.

A key weakness in the U.N. sanctions regime, the panel says, is the submission by U.N. members of lists of terrorist suspects who are inadequately identified or whose names are misspelled. For instance, 34 individuals on the list are identified by only a single name. Further confusion has been caused by the varied translations of names from Arabic to English and other languages. The United States and other governments have also been reluctant to put the names of some suspected terrorists on the U.N. terrorism list in bids to maintain secrecy as they conduct their own investigations. "There have been some reports of known al Qaeda members, not on the list, having been turned back, detained or arrested while in transit," the report says.

The report cites a number of successes in the international effort to end al Qaeda's financing, including the arrest of the organization's fundraisers and financial managers. It mentions the capture of Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi and Abdul Rahim Sharqawi. It also notes that several Arab governments, including those of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have begun to tighten regulations on unregistered money-changing operations -- called hawala -- that al Qaeda has used to move money.

The panel points to several shortcomings in the effort to tie up terrorist financing, saying that al Qaeda cells continue to raise money from the drug trade, cigarette smuggling and credit card fraud. After freezing more than $125 million in terrorist-related assets -- including about $59 million in funds linked to al Qaeda and its associates -- shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, the United States and other countries have had little success in tracking down additional al Qaeda assets, the report says. "Perhaps the greatest weakness in the fight against terrorist financing stems from the continued vulnerabilities posed by charities and the widespread use of alternative remittance systems," it says.

The report says al Qaeda, members of the former Taliban leadership in Afghanistan and their allies have the capacity to "acquire adequate quantities of weapons and explosives where and when they need them. . . . . To date, no attempts by designated individuals or entities to breach or circumvent the arms embargo measures have been uncovered or reported," it says.

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