From time to time, the United States identifies certain individuals as crucial to the operation of terrorist organizations. Most often these are top leaders, or they help finance terrorist organizations. In all cases, these are people who have committed, or are deemed to pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism.
Such is the case with Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani, Abdelilah Himich and Basil Hassan. All three are involved in the external operations of the Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, ISIL, also known as Daesh.
Iraqi national Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani works with foreign terrorist fighters who choose to join ISIL. He handles their accommodation and arranges transportation for suicide bombers.
Abdelilah Himich, also known as Abu Sulayman al-Faransi, is a Moroccan-born, senior foreign fighter for ISIL.In 2015, Himich created the Tariq Ibn Ziyad Battalion, a foreign fighter cell composed primarily of Europeans. This group, which once numbered as many as 300, operates on behalf of ISIL and conducts attacks in Iraq, Syria, as well as outside of the Middle East.
Basil Hassan is a Lebanon-born Dane who is an external operations plotter for ISIL. He is accused of an attempted assassination in 2013 of 70-year old Danish author and journalist Lars Hedegaard.He was arrested in Turkey in 2014, but was later released, allegedly as part of an exchange for 49 hostages held by ISIL.
Under Executive Order 13224, Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani, Abdelilah Himich and Basil Hassan have been named by the U.S. Department of State as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and their names have been placed on the Specially Designated Terrorists List. This means that their assets within U.S. reach have been frozen, and they are locked out of the global financial network. No U.S. citizen or company may conduct business with them. In this way, the United States disrupts financial support networks for terrorists and terrorist organizations.
By designating Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani, Abdelilah Himich and Basil Hassan as global terrorists, the United States hopes to hinder the deadly agenda of these terrorists.
