CHAIRMAN OF SECURITY COUNCIL’S AL-QAIDA, TALIBAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE

VISITS CENTRAL ASIA

 

Pursuant to paragraph 30 of resolution 1735 (2006), the Chairman of the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Johan Verbeke, visited Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from 26 October to 4 November.  The purpose of the trip was to increase dialogue with the visited countries and to assist the States, where necessary, in enhancing the implementation of the Security Council sanctions measures, namely the assets freeze, the travel ban and the arms embargo against listed individuals and entities, as outlined in paragraph 1 of resolution 1735 (2006).

The Chairman was accompanied on his trip by the two Vice-Chairs of the Committee, the delegates from the Russian Federation and Ghana, by an expert member of the Al-Qaida and Taliban Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, as well as a United Nations Secretariat staff member.  In the visited countries, the Chairman and his delegation met with competent senior Government officials, including Ministers or Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Interior and Finance, as well as officials from intelligence services and other relevant departments.

In all the visited countries, the Chairman conveyed the Committee’s appreciation of the efforts undertaken by national authorities to implement the sanctions measures.  The Chairman also encouraged authorities in these countries to continue to provide the Committee with relevant information on individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida or the Taliban in order to further improve the quality of the Committee’s List.

In his briefing to the Security Council on 14 November (document S/PV.5779), the Chairman highlighted the importance in the work of the Committee of this visit and other similar visits undertaken by him or the Monitoring Team.

The Chairman would like to thank the authorities of the visited countries for their helpful cooperation in the preparation of the mission.

The Chairman will present his report on the trip in a forthcoming meeting of the Committee.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record