US places sanctions on 3 al Qaeda officials in Iran

Accused have important logistics roles in al Qaeda, which is designated by US and UN as global terrorist organization

WASHINGTON: The US Treasury announced Wednesday sanctions on three Iran-based senior al Qaeda officials allegedly involved in moving funds and weapons around the Middle East for the group.

The Treasury said Faisal Jassim Mohammed al-Amri al-Khalidi, Yisra Muhammad Ibrahim Bayumi and Abu Bakr Muhammad Muhammad Ghumayn have important logistics roles in al Qaeda, which is officially designated by the United States and the United Nations as a global terrorist organization.

The Treasury said Khalidi, a 31-year-old Kuwait-born Saudi national, was "part of a new generation" of Qaeda operatives who in May 2015 participated in a senior leadership meeting as the military commission chief.



Egyptian Bayumi, 48, is a Qaeda veteran involved recently in raising and deploying funds for the group.

Ghumayn, a 35-year-old Algerian, took control of the financing and organization of Iran-based Qaeda members last year.

The sanctions seize any assets located in US jurisdictions of those named, and ban Americans and US-based companies from doing business with them -- effectively closing off their access to much of the global financial system.

"Treasury remains committed to targeting al Qaeda's terrorist activity and denying al Qaeda and its critical support networks access to the international financial system," Adam Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.