U.N. Adds Syrian Jihadist Al-Nusra to Sanctions List

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The United Nations Security Council on Friday added the Syrian militant group Al-Nusra Front to its global sanctions list because of its links to al-Qaida.

The group, a feared force battling President Bashar Assad, is now subject to an international asset freeze and arms embargo, according to an announcement made by the Security Council's al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.

France and Britain jointly sought Al-Nusra's designation after blocking a demand by the Syrian government.

Al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani last month pledged allegiance to al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, confirming suspicions of ties between the rebel group and the militant group founded by the late Osama bin Laden.

Experts have said Al-Nusra gets aid from al-Qaida's Iraqi affiliate and the Security Council announcement specifically mentions links to al-Qaida in Iraq.

The U.S. government designated Al-Nusra a terrorist organization last year and added al-Jawlani to its terrorist blacklist this month.

Western nations are acting against Al-Nusra in a bid to shore up moderate opponents of Assad. The 26-month old Syrian conflict has left more than 94,000 dead, according to Syrian activists.

France and Britain welcomed the Security Council move.

The designation "underlines the clear distinction that has to be made between the democratic opposition, which has our full support and which we want to strengthen, and the terrorist element that we condemn without ambiguity," said French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot in Paris.

Comments 1
Missing ArabDemocrat.com 31 May 2013, 18:39

Indeed very funny how the west and the arab countries abandon the syrian people to a butcher regime that is actively assisted by Iran and the Hizb. The west knows all too well that there are two Al-Nusra in Syria: one that has been consumed by the Iraqi-wing of Al-Qaeda (who has long standing relations with Syrian and Iranian intelligence and who now control much of the oil in the Hassaka province which seems protected by an act of God from bombardment that leveled many cities and villages by Syrian airforce) and who are hardly fighting the regime right now and the original Al-Nusra who are fighting alongside the FSA. The more the Arab countries abandon the moderates, the more the extremists will get stronger and this will be the doom of the Syrian revolution.