TREASURY TARGETS HIZBALLAH NETWORK IN AFRICA

U.S. Treasury Department
Office of Public Affairs

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 27, 2009
CONTACT: Treasury Public Affairs (202) 622-2960

 

TREASURY TARGETS HIZBALLAH NETWORK IN AFRICA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Kassim Tajideen and Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi, two Africa-based supporters of the Hizballah terrorist organization, under E.O. 13224. E.O. 13224 targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism by freezing any assets the designees have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with them.

"We will continue to take steps to protect the financial system from the threat posed by Hizballah and those who support it," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. "Not only is Hizballah itself a terrorist organization with global reach, it also recently acknowledged publicly that it provides support to Hamas."

Kassim Tajideen is an important financial contributor to Hizballah who operates a network of businesses in Lebanon and Africa. He has contributed tens of millions of dollars to Hizballah and has sent funds to Hizballah through his brother, a Hizballah commander in Lebanon. In addition, Kassim Tajideen and his brothers run cover companies for Hizballah in Africa. In 2003, Tajideen was arrested in Belgium in connection with fraud, money laundering, and diamond smuggling.

Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi is a Cote d’Ivoire-based Hizballah supporter and is the personal representative of Hizballah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Qubaysi communicates with Hizballah leaders and has hosted senior Hizballah officials traveling to Cote d’Ivoire and other parts of Africa to raise money for Hizballah. Qubaysi plays a visible role in Hizballah activities in Cote d’Ivoire, including speaking at Hizballah fundraising events and sponsoring meetings with high-ranking members of the terrorist organization.

Qubaysi also helped establish an official Hizballah foundation in Cote d’Ivoire which has been used to recruit new members for Hizballah's military ranks in Lebanon.

Identifying Information

KASSIM TAJIDEEN

Individual:         TAJIDEEN, Kassim

AKA:               Kassim Mohammad Tajiddine

AKA:               Qasim Taji Al-Din

AKA:               Kasim Taji Al-Din

AKA:               Kasim Tajmudin

DOB:               March 21, 1955

POB:                Sierra Leone

Passport 1:       0285669 (Sierra Leone)

Passport 2:       RL1794375 (Lebanon)

Nationality 1:    Leonean

Nationality 2:    Lebanese

ABD AL MENHEM QUBAYSI

Individual:         Abd-Al-Munim Al-Qubaysi

AKA:               Abd Al Menhem Kobeissi

AKA:               Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi

AKA:               Abd Al Munhim Kubaysy

AKA:               Abdul Menhem Kobeissy

AKA:               Abdul Menhem Kobeissi

AKA:               Abdel Menhem Kobeissi

DOB 1:            January 1, 1964

DOB 2:            1961

POB:                Beirut, Lebanon

Passport:          RL1622378 (Lebanon)

Nationality:       Lebanese

Background on Hizballah

Hizballah is a Lebanon-based terrorist group, which, until September 11, 2001, was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization. Hizballah is closely allied with Iran and often acts at its behest, but it also can and does act independently. In addition, the group has been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in the region, although Hizballah does not share the Syrian regime's secular orientation.

Iran and Syria provide significant support to Hizballah, giving money, weapons and training to the terrorist organization. In turn, Hizballah is closely allied with and has an allegiance to these states. Iran is Hizballah's main source of weapons and uses its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to train Hizballah operatives in Lebanon and Iran. Iran provides hundreds of millions of dollars per year to Hizballah.

The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, is the group's highest governing body and has been led by Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah since 1992. Hizballah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous terrorist attacks throughout the world, including the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984.

Hizballah also perpetrated the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome, and has been implicated in the attacks on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. The U.S. Government has indicted members of Hizballah for their participation in the June 1996 truck bomb attack of the U.S. Air Force dormitory at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Most recently, in July 2006, Hizballah terrorists kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, triggering a violent conflict that resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties in Lebanon and Israel.

The Annex to Executive Order 12947 of January 23, 1995 listed Hizballah as a Specially Designated Terrorist (SDT). The Department of State designated Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 1997. Additionally, on October 31, 2001, Hizballah was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.

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