UN removes bin Laden from sanctions list

Assets freeze remains in place

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 26, (RTRS): Almost two years after his death at the hands of US special forces in Pakistan, a UN Security Council committee has removed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from its sanctions list, although an order freezing any assets of the Islamist extremist remains in place.

Bin Laden had been subjected to a travel ban and asset freeze since he was listed by the Security Council al-Qaeda sanctions committee on Jan 25, 2001. He was shot and killed on May 2, 2011 by US forces who stormed his compound in Pakistan.

The UN committee said in a statement that bin Laden was officially removed from the sanctions list on Feb 21, but that countries must submit requests to unfreeze any of his assets.

Those countries must also “provide assurances to the Committee that the assets will not be transferred, directly or indirectly, to a listed individual, group, undertaking or entity, or otherwise used for terrorist purposes.”

There are about 233 individuals and 63 entities or groups on the UN al-Qaeda sanctions list. All individuals on the list are subject to asset freezes and an international travel ban.

Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network was blamed for killing nearly 3,000 people when hijackers crashed commercial planes into New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington and a field in Pennsylvania on Sept 11, 2001.

The members of bin Laden’s family in Pakistan were repatriated to Saudi Arabia in April, 2012 on humanitarian grounds. The Saudi government did not say how many there were, but previous reports suggested that three widows, seven children and four grandchildren were deported.