Central Asia/Russia


	May 25, 2002	atimes.com

Central Asia/Russia

Arms embargo against al-Qaeda deemed ineffective
By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - The eight-month-old United Nations arms embargo against Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and the al-Qaeda network has proved ineffective, a UN monitoring group said on Wednesday.

"The ability of the Taliban and al-Qaeda to engage in heavy fighting with very well-equipped and -trained military forces implies they still have access to weapons and ammunition in sufficient quantities," the four-member group said in a 20-page report released at the UN's New York headquarters.

During the US-led "Operation Anaconda" military campaign in eastern Afghanistan in March, some firefights lasted for up to 18 hours. Under prevailing circumstances, Taliban forces could fire some 15,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition per hour, the group pointed out.

According to a small-arms survey conducted by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies last year, Afghanistan possesses about 10 million mostly illegal small arms, including light weapons, mortars, rocket launchers and man-portable missile systems. The monitoring group said these weapons are easy to produce and conceal. Furthermore, the producers of such weapons are numerous and the smuggling networks are well developed and organized. The group is compiling a list of all known international arms brokers, including those who are allegedly involved in breaching UN arms embargoes.

According to the report, members of Taliban and al-Qaeda continue to engage in guerrilla warfare in certain parts of Afghanistan, posing "a considerable threat to peace and security". This assessment is supported by recent reports of hit-and-run attacks against both the British-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul and US-led coalition forces fighting the Taliban in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

The US administration has said the Taliban and al-Qaeda are terrorist groups supported and financed by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, described as the mastermind behind the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Immediately after those attacks, the UN Security Council tightened an existing military embargo on Afghanistan and imposed a travel ban on bin Laden and on members of the Taliban government, which was ousted from power by coalition military forces in October.

But the monitoring group argued that the travel ban does not make sense since it carries weight only when applied against individuals who wish to travel internationally using international commercial flights. Neither members of the Taliban nor al-Qaeda have the need or desire to travel internationally, the study noted, adding: "This does not mean, however, that they may not attempt to cross the border into a neighboring country."

In the case of al-Qaeda, the travel ban is more meaningful because the organization is believed to have terrorist cells operating throughout the world, not just in Afghanistan.

The Security Council also imposed financial prohibitions on both groups in attempts to cut off funding for terrorist operations. By the end of March, about 144 countries had frozen bank accounts and other financial assets of suspected terrorist groups. As a result, about US$103.8 million in assets have been blocked around the world, according to the study. About half of this sum represents assets connected to bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

Despite these restrictions, it has been difficult to differentiate among transactions related to laundered money, organized crime, and funding for terrorism. The study also pointed out that criminals and terrorists are moving money by means of the Internet. The monitoring group expressed particular concern about the use of the Internet not only regarding financial transactions but also in support of communications, command, control and logistics by terrorist groups.

"Efforts to hinder and even neutralize this capability will continue to pose a major challenge for law-enforcement agencies worldwide, but methods of combating this aspect of al-Qaeda operations and those of its associates must be addressed with energy and resourcefulness and without delay," the report said.

The group is investigating, with key agencies, the feasibility of preventive measures and means of interdiction that could disrupt and neutralize these criminal operations. But the group admitted it has not been able to substantiate new allegations that al-Qaeda may be using alternative remittance systems and also converting its assets into gold, diamonds, and other precious stones in order to avoid detection.

(Inter Press Service)