In an effort to block the militants from the international financial system, the United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday against more than 30 Islamic State leaders, financial figures, supporters and affiliated groups.
Sanctions were imposed by the Treasury Department of the US government against 15 Islamic State figures, including those it identified as supporters and facilitators.
In a statement the state department said that it has imposed sanctions and designated 10 individuals and five groups as foreign terrorist fighters, including citizens of France, Britain. This designation imposes sanctions and penalties on terrorists, the statement said.
A senior U.S. official told reporters on a conference call that the announcements represent a "real ramp-up" in the effort to block Islamic State from the international financial system.
"Treasury remains relentless about depleting ISIL’s financial strength and denying this violent terrorist group access to the international financial system,” using an acronym for the group , Adam J. Szubin, acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
The Islamic State's Khorasan and Caucuses affiliates, as well as Islamic State-linked groups operating in Indonesia and Algeria were included in the State Department designations.
Citizens of Britain, France, Russia, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia are included in the newly designated individuals list.
Several of the people targeted by Treasury were among the four British citizens added to the United Nations' al Qaeda sanctions list Monday, it said.
US officials said that the global nature of the Islamic State threat was evident from the diverse nationalities included in the list.
Amidst all these efforts however the mounting disagreement between the US and Russia again came to the forefront when the presidents of the two countries different in their views of the Syrian government.
In his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York in Monday, US President Barrack Obama made a forceful defence of diplomacy but also castigated Russia by name multiple times in his speech for its defence of the Syrian government.
“Dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world,” Obama said.
Stating that the current trend included major powers that wanted to ignore international rules and impose order through force of military power, Obama said.
“In accordance with this logic, we should support tyrants like Bashar al-Assad who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent civilians because the alternative is surely worse,” he said.
A few hours later while speaking on the same platform, Russian President Vladimir Putin extolled the Syrian leader, saying that he represented stability and that his forces needed support to fight the Islamic State extremists now threatening the region.
“We think it’s an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face,” Putin said.
Of late Russia has begun to take a more significant role in Syria and contrary to what Western power s feel about te Syrian President, Moscow wants to Assad to continue his rule .
(Source:www.reuters.com & www.nytimes.com)
Sanctions were imposed by the Treasury Department of the US government against 15 Islamic State figures, including those it identified as supporters and facilitators.
In a statement the state department said that it has imposed sanctions and designated 10 individuals and five groups as foreign terrorist fighters, including citizens of France, Britain. This designation imposes sanctions and penalties on terrorists, the statement said.
A senior U.S. official told reporters on a conference call that the announcements represent a "real ramp-up" in the effort to block Islamic State from the international financial system.
"Treasury remains relentless about depleting ISIL’s financial strength and denying this violent terrorist group access to the international financial system,” using an acronym for the group , Adam J. Szubin, acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
The Islamic State's Khorasan and Caucuses affiliates, as well as Islamic State-linked groups operating in Indonesia and Algeria were included in the State Department designations.
Citizens of Britain, France, Russia, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia are included in the newly designated individuals list.
Several of the people targeted by Treasury were among the four British citizens added to the United Nations' al Qaeda sanctions list Monday, it said.
US officials said that the global nature of the Islamic State threat was evident from the diverse nationalities included in the list.
Amidst all these efforts however the mounting disagreement between the US and Russia again came to the forefront when the presidents of the two countries different in their views of the Syrian government.
In his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York in Monday, US President Barrack Obama made a forceful defence of diplomacy but also castigated Russia by name multiple times in his speech for its defence of the Syrian government.
“Dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world,” Obama said.
Stating that the current trend included major powers that wanted to ignore international rules and impose order through force of military power, Obama said.
“In accordance with this logic, we should support tyrants like Bashar al-Assad who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent civilians because the alternative is surely worse,” he said.
A few hours later while speaking on the same platform, Russian President Vladimir Putin extolled the Syrian leader, saying that he represented stability and that his forces needed support to fight the Islamic State extremists now threatening the region.
“We think it’s an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face,” Putin said.
Of late Russia has begun to take a more significant role in Syria and contrary to what Western power s feel about te Syrian President, Moscow wants to Assad to continue his rule .
(Source:www.reuters.com & www.nytimes.com)