Islamic State: UN resolution aims to curb funding

[webfact]

Islamic State: UN resolution aims to curb funding

NEW YORK: -- Finance ministers from the 15 nations on the UN Security Council have adopted a resolution aimed at starving the so-called Islamic State of funds.

The resolution is based on one that was first passed in 1999 to target the rival jihadist group, al-Qaeda.

It urges countries to "move vigorously and decisively to cut the flow of funds" to IS, such as by preventing its smuggling of oil and antiquities.

The militant group is widely believed to be the world's wealthiest.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35120441


-- BBC 2015-12-18

[ezzra]

For some inexplicable reasons, the UN and other world's powers has allowed IS a free hand in stolen

oil exports to greedy countries that on the hand were committed to fight IS but were buying oil from it..

and all the sophisticate monetary system of the world put in place could not or would not stem the

flows of funds going in and out IS bank accounts... which only begs to a conclusions that there was

an agenda by some one/s to allow IS to be and to get to what they're today.....

[craigt3365]

For some inexplicable reasons, the UN and other world's powers has allowed IS a free hand in stolen

oil exports to greedy countries that on the hand were committed to fight IS but were buying oil from it..

and all the sophisticate monetary system of the world put in place could not or would not stem the

flows of funds going in and out IS bank accounts... which only begs to a conclusions that there was

an agenda by some one/s to allow IS to be and to get to what they're today.....

I think that same logic applies to all the corruption money being shifted around the world. Bankers seem to like it and many countries don't want to do anything about it. Massive amounts of money being moved around.

[webfact]

UN adopts resolution to disrupt Islamic State funds
EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Thursday aimed at disrupting revenue that the Islamic State extremist group gets from oil and antiquities sales, ransom payments and other criminal activities — a goal that finance ministers agree will be challenging.

The Islamic State group, also known as ISIL and Daesh, is already subject to U.N. sanctions under resolutions dealing with al-Qaida. The resolution, sponsored by the United States and Russia, elevates IS to the same level as al-Qaida, reflecting its growing threat and split from the terror network behind the 9/11 attacks.

It makes "association with ISIL" as well as al-Qaida a critera for sanctions including a financial freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who chaired the meeting, called ISIL "a challenging financial target" because unlike other "terror groups" like al-Qaida it gets a relatively small share of its funding from donors abroad.

The Islamic State group controls a large swath of Syria and Iraq, including oil and gas fields, though bombing campaigns by the U.S.-led coalition and ground forces have enabled Iraq to regain some territory.

France's Finance Minister Michel Sapin told the council that no country is safe from ISIL attacks, the most recent in Paris and California, and that since June 2014 some 1,600 people around the world have been killed in attacks by the extremist group or groups loyal to them.

While foreign ministers from the 15 council nations will be meeting in New York on Friday to discuss a political solution to the Syrian civil war, he said every country has to play a part in stemming the flow of money to extremist groups which are fueling conflicts.

"What sets Daesh apart and makes it so powerful is the fact that it has amassed a sizable war chest by a variety of means including smuggling, extortion and trafficking," Sapin said. "There is no crime that Daesh will not commit to finance itself."

Lew said ISIL generates funds from economic activity and the resources in territory under its control and its financing "has evolved from seizing territory and looting bank vaults to leveraging more renewable revenue streams."

So far, he said, "ISIL has reaped an estimated $500 million from black market oil and millions more from the people it brutalizes and extorts."

At the same time, Lew said, ISIL has vulnerabilities because it needs large and sustained streams of income to pay fighters, procure weapons, and provide basic services for people living in areas it controls.

He stressed that IS needs access to the international financial system for oil equipment, weapons, communications equipment and other imported items which requires them to move funds — and that provides opportunities for attack.

To cut off oil revenue, Lew said the U.S.-led coalition has been attacking ISIL's entire oil supply chain from oil fields and refineries to destroying nearly 400 of its tanker trucks in the past month.

He said the United States is also working with its partners to target ISIL's key "financial facilitators."

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the extremist group's oil revenues are estimated to represent 40-45 percent of IS' income.

"The good news is that it's diminishing as a combination of the kind of financial action we're taking, and frankly military action against the oil fields are having their effect, and that's something we should welcome," Osborne said.

But France's Sapin said the international community will only be able to target the extremists' revenue from areas it controls "by destroying Daesh."

The U.N. resolutions, he stressed, are part of a broader effort to fight financing for ISIL, al-Qaida and other extremist groups.

Sapin told the council that last month's Paris attacks were largely financed through pre-paid cards whose buyers and recipients can't be traced. He called for regulations that do away with anonymous transactions.

The resolution adopted Thursday is drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which can be militarily enforced.

It urges countries to share information about extremist groups and encourages the 193 U.N. member states "to more actively submit" names for inclusion on the sanctions list. It also expresses "increasing concern" at the failure of countries to implement previous sanctions resolutions.

Je-Yoon Shin, head of the multinational Financial Action Task Force which has set global standards to combat the financing of extremists, said all countries must focus urgently on implementing the standards and not just pass laws and regulations.

While half of those countries found with serious problems in the last two months have introduced laws to address them, he said only a small number of countries "have secured convictions for terrorist financing" and most are too slow in implementing asset freezes.

The resolution calls for a report within 120 days on what every country is doing to tackle the financing of IS and al-Qaida.

It also requests Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to provide an initial "strategic-level report" in 45 days on the sources of financing of IS and associated groups, including through illicit trade in oil, antiquities and other natural resources, as well as their planning and facilitation of attacks, and to provide updates every four months.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-12-18

[Rancid]

For some inexplicable reasons, the UN and other world's powers has allowed IS a free hand in stolen

oil exports to greedy countries that on the hand were committed to fight IS but were buying oil from it..

and all the sophisticate monetary system of the world put in place could not or would not stem the

flows of funds going in and out IS bank accounts... which only begs to a conclusions that there was

an agenda by some one/s to allow IS to be and to get to what they're today.....

The reason would seem to be that they want Assad gone so that they can chop up Syria. Islamic whackos have been financed and trained for years by the West and Sunni States to create mayhem and spread fear and paranoia.

Syria it seems was planned to chop out a Kurdish homeland in the north and Golan Heights to be annexed by Israel in the south. Add in a few pipelines that benefit the ISIS supporters and everyone's a winner. Well except maybe Syria, Russia and Iran.

Russia threw a spanner in the works though, time will tell how or if that changes things.

[wabothai]

As long as corruption exists control of any kind of funds will never happen.

IMF, VIVA, just to name a couple.

[chilli42]

For some inexplicable reasons, the UN and other world's powers has allowed IS a free hand in stolen

oil exports to greedy countries that on the hand were committed to fight IS but were buying oil from it..

and all the sophisticate monetary system of the world put in place could not or would not stem the

flows of funds going in and out IS bank accounts... which only begs to a conclusions that there was

an agenda by some one/s to allow IS to be and to get to what they're today.....

Indeed and some of them sit on the security council.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

I am sure that much of these funds must go through banking institutions at some point and the bankers are likely fully aware of what they are doing but again will never be held accountable for the part they play.

The UN is a completely useless organization. It is a waste of time and an obscene amount of money. You might as well have the BIB running the show, they couldn't do much worse than the UN.

[Scott]

A baiting, inflammatory post has been removed, including the duplicate.

[djlest]

the right hand feeds the other - no point in the US telling all the arab countries to stop funding. LOL its the US that created them and keep them running anyway... its all just a smokescreen to enforce more fear, more internet control, more checks, more military spending, more OIL....

[Seastallion]

Most countries are part of the UN.

ALL international banking is controlled by some UN member countries.

Where's the problem in shutting down funds to daesh?

Does anybody think that as 400 oil tanker trucks cross the border from Iraq or Syria that briefcases of MILLIONS of dollars in cash are exchanged?

Edited December 21, 2015 by Seastallion

[simple1]

Most countries are part of the UN.

ALL international banking is controlled by some UN member countries.

Where's the problem in shutting down funds to daesh?

Does anybody think that as 400 oil tanker trucks cross the border from Iraq or Syria that briefcases of MILLIONS of dollars in cash are exchanged?

How will the players address the Islamic Hawala system of funds transfer, of which no mention.

Edited December 21, 2015 by simple1

[Scott]

A huge amount of the money is actually in the form of cash.

You can be assured that the fighters aren't getting a check.

That said, cutting off the banking end of things is a step in the right direction.