CHAIRMAN OF SECURITY COUNCIL’S AL-QAIDA, TALIBAN

 

SANCTIONS COMMITTEE VISITS WEST AFRICA

During a formal meeting of the Committee held on 5 May 2008, the Chairman of the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, H.E. Ambassador Johan Verbeke (Belgium), presented his report on his visit to Mauritania, Senegal and Mali, undertaken pursuant to paragraph 30 of Security Council resolution 1735 (2006), between 29 March and 5 April 2008.  The purpose of the trip was to increase dialogue with the visited countries and to assist them, where necessary, in enhancing the implementation of the measures outlined in paragraph 1 of resolution 1735 (2006), namely the assets freeze, the travel ban and the arms embargo against listed individuals and entities.

The Chairman was accompanied on his trip by two members of the Committee ( Burkina Faso (Vice-Chairman) and Belgium) and by an expert member of the Al-Qaida and Taliban Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.  In the visited countries, the Chairman and his delegation met with Government members, including ministers for foreign affairs, interior, national security and defence, as well as senior officials from intelligence services, central banks and other relevant departments.  In Dakar, a meeting was organized at the headquarters of the Central Bank of West African States.

In all three 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 to submit for the Committee’s consideration relevant names for listing, as well as additional identifying information in order to continue improving the quality of the Consolidated List of individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida or the Taliban.

In his briefing, the Chairman highlighted the importance of this visit for the work of the Committee and thanked the authorities of the visited countries for their helpful cooperation in the organization of this mission.

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For information media • not an official record