Four British jihadis hit with UN sanctions
Four high-profile British jihadis who have joined Islamic State fighters in Syria have been hit with international sanctions at the UK’s request.
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Omar Hussain from High Wycombe, Nasser Muthana from Cardiff, Aqsa Mahmood from Glasgow and Sally-Anne Jones from Chatham in Kent are all named on the UN’s updated sanctions list.
The four will be subject to a global asset freeze and travel ban. The government will also hope that the move helps stem the flow of home-grown IS recruits.
Most of the group are thought to be living in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Islamic State.
Sally-Anne Jones – reportedly a former rock musician who converted to Islam – travelled to Syria in 2013 with her husband Junaid Hussain who was killed in a US air strike in August.
Asqa Mahmood went to Syria to join IS in 2013 and is thought to be a key figure in the al-Khanssaa brigade, a female brigade in Raqqa which was established by IS to enforce Sharia law. She also acts as a key recruiting sergeant for IS and is accused of recruiting three London schoolgirls to join IS in December 2014.
Hussain, who is also known as Abu-Said al-Britani, travelled to Syria last year and also uses social media to recruit others to join IS.
Muthana joined IS in Syria in 2013 and has appeared in propaganda and recruitment videos. He has also threatened the UK in social media posts.
It is the first time since 2006 that the UK has sought to place its own nationals under the United Nations sanctions regime set up to tackle suspected al-Qaeda terrorists and extended to IS.
Detailed dossiers of evidence were submitted to show they were “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities” related to IS.
Uploading bomb-making instructions to social media was among the activities.
A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “The prime minister has been absolutely clear that we will do all we can to stop British citizens from going to fight for ISIL and that foreign fighters should face consequences for their actions.
“As well as the domestic measures we have introduced, such as the power to seize passports, these sanctions are a powerful tool – freezing an individual’s assets and imposing a global travel ban on them.
“It also sends a clear deterrent message to those thinking of going to fight for ISIL. We will continue to consider whether more individuals should be subjected to these sanctions.”