Abousfian Abdelrazik - Formal Designation As A Terrorist and Addition To UN Security Council Blacklist

Formal Designation As A Terrorist and Addition To UN Security Council Blacklist

On July 23, 2006 the United States Department of the Treasury designated Abdelrazik as a supporter of al-Qaeda and a terrorist, "for his high-level ties to and support for al-Qaeda." According to the Globe and Mail, the U.S. State Department believes, "Mr. Abdelrazik was “closely associated with Abu Zubaydah, Osama bin Laden's lieutenant responsible for recruiting and for al-Qaeda's network of training camps in Afghanistan.” The United States also alleges Mr. Abdelrazik recruited and accompanied a Tunisian extremist named Raouf Hannachi for paramilitary training at a camp in Afghanistan in 1996 “where al-Qaeda and other UN-sanctioned terrorist groups were known to train,” and became personally acquainted with Mr. bin Laden". In April 2011, Wikileaks revealed that a November 2008 U.S. Department of Defence document stated that Abdelrazik had admitted receiving $10 000 from alleged al-Qaeda financier Hassan Zemiri, who was captured in late 2001 in Tora Bora, Afghanistan. However, none of these allegations have been proven in a court of law and Abdelrazik has never been charged with any crime, in Canada or anywhere else in the world. Eight days after he was designated a terrorist by the US, he was added to the UN Security Council terrorist blacklist (not a no fly list) by the U.S. and is now the only living Canadian on that list. According to the Globe and mail,"any country can nominate anyone they consider to be an islamic extremist. All his personal assets were frozen once he was put on that list. Individuals on the list are subject to a sanctions regime which include an asset freeze and a ban on international travel (but not flight per se). According to a letter sent on April 18, 2008, by the Department of Foreign Affairs to Abousfian Abdelrazik's lawyer, the Canadian government requested the UN's 1267 Committee to remove Abdelrazik from its list of al Qaeda supporters. A request was made to the UN on December 10, 2007, but was vetoed with no explanation eleven days later, meaning that at least one of the 15 members of the Security Council raised an objection. Canada has repeatedly stated that it continues to support removing Abdelrazik from the list, but has not clarified whether it was the country which originally asked for his inclusion. Critics of the blacklist have commented that Abdelrazik's status is typical, since it is far easier to be added to the list than removed.