Al
Qaeda
Sanctions
Comedy of
Shifts, UK
& Sa'ad
al-Faqih,
&
Djiboutian
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 30 --
With most on
the UN
Security
Council
primarily
concerned with
Syria and the
Action Group
meeting in
Geneva, other
Council
members on
June 29
exclusively
told Inner
City Press of
the
strange case
of Sa'ad
Rashed
Mohammad
al-Faqih.
He is an
opponent of
the Saudi
royal family,
accused in
late 2004 by
the US of
being
affiliated
with Al Qaeda
and then
quickly put on
the UN's Al
Qaeda or
Resolution
1267 sanctions
list.
Now the
ombudsperson
recommends him
for removal
from the list,
but it can
only be done
with the
concurrence of
all Council
members.
And, as of the
morning of
June 29, there
were many
members
against his
removal,
including the
UK where he
resides.
But why? Some
ask, why
wouldn't the
UK then arrest
him?
(Several
Council
members told
Inner City
Press that
the
European Court
of Human
Rights might
have something
to do with
this.)
Stranger
still, they
say, the UK at
one point
applied
themselves to
have Sa'ad
al-Faqih
removed from
the list. This
was
unsuccessful.
And now that
al-Faqih
himself is
applying for
removal, with
a similar
recommendation
from the
ombudsperson,
the UK opposed
it.
Inner City
Press spent
June 29 asking
questions
about
Al-Faqih's
case, and an
even lower
profile one of
a Djiboutian
removed from
the Al Qaeda
sanctions list
"only to be
added to
the Eritrea
sanctions," as
one Permanent
Representative
on the
Council told
Inner City
Press, shaking
his head.
It seemed
obvious that
comment should
be sought for
this
article from
the UK itself,
but the
proceedings of
the 1267
committee
are
confidential.
Then late on
June 29 Inner
City Press
learned that
the UK had
changed its
position and
now no longer
opposed
al-Faqih's
removal
from the
sanctions
list. But what
of the others
who were
opposed?
Watch this
site.
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