Osama bin Laden's son placed on America's terror blacklist
Experts say Hamza bin Laden is a 'new face for al Qaeda' and 'an articulate and dangerous enemy'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A son of late al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden and a leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were added to the US counter-terrorism blacklist on Thursday, a move to keep them from using the U.S. financial system, the State Department said.
The State and Treasury departments said they had designated Hamza bin Laden and Ibrahim al-Banna as global terrorists. Bin Laden, a son of the deceased al-Qaeda leader, has been declared a member of the group by senior leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, according to the State Department.
Bruce Reidel, an analyst with the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, has called Hamza bin Laden the "new face for al-Qaeda" and "an articulate and dangerous enemy."
Al-Banna is a senior member of AQAP who has served as the group's security chief and has provided military and security advice to AQAP leaders, the State Department said.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Bin Laden and al-Banna to its list of specially designated nationals, a counterterrorism blacklist. The State Department said the two had been identified as specially designated global terrorists.
Any property owned by the two men and subject to US jurisdiction may be frozen and US citizens are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them, the State Department said. The designation is viewed as a powerful tool to deny them access to the U.S. financial system.
Bin Laden, who was born in Saudi Arabia, has called for acts of terrorism in western capitals and threatened to take revenge against the United States for his father's killing, the State Department said.
He has threatened to target Americans abroad and urged Saudi tribes to unite with AQAP in Yemen to fight against Saudi Arabia, it said.
Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces who raided his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011. Hamza bin Laden was thought to be under house arrest in Iran at the time, and documents recovered from the compound indicated that aides had been trying to reunite him with his father.
Al-Banna, who was born in Egypt, has described al-Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington as "virtuous" and threatened to target Americans in the United States and abroad, the State Department said.
Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments