US sanctions three alleged senior al-Qaeda leaders based in Iran
The US treasury has announced sanctions on three Iran-based men alleged to be senior al-Qaeda members involved in moving funds and weapons around the Middle East.
The treasury said Faisal Jassim Mohammed al-Amri al-Khalidi, Yisra Muhammad Ibrahim Bayumi and Abu Bakr Muhammad Muhammad Ghumayn had important logistics roles in al-Qaeda.
The treasury said Khalidi, a 31-year-old Kuwait-born Saudi national, was "part of a new generation" of al-Qaeda operatives who in May 2015 participated in a senior leadership meeting as the military commission chief.
Egyptian Bayumi, 48, is an al-Qaeda veteran involved recently in raising and deploying funds for the group.
Ghumayn, a 35-year-old Algerian, took control of the financing and organisation of Iran-based al-Qaeda members last year.
The sanctions authorise the seizure of 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.
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