QI.A.323.14. SAID ARIF
Date on which the narrative summary became available on the Committee’s website: 15.08.14
Said Arif was listed on 15 August 2014 pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 4 of resolution 2161 (2014) as being
associated with Al-Qaida for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating
of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of” and
“recruiting for” Jabhat al-Nusrah, listed as Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant (QE.A.137.14).
Additional information:
Said Arif is an Algerian army officer who deserted and travelled to Afghanistan in the 1990s. While in
Afghanistan, he trained in Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01) camps with weapons and explosives. Arif is suspected of
training in the production of chemical and biological weapons in Georgia, allegedly under the guidance of
Al-Qaida senior leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also known as Ahmad Fadil Nazal al-Khalayleh
(deceased). Arif was one of al-Zarqawi’s closest lieutenants, and was a suspect linked to the ‘Frankfurt
Group’ (not listed) plot to bomb Strasbourg Cathedral and Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, in
December 2000, which was planned by Al-Qaida senior member, Abu Doha (not listed).
Arif is involved in a facilitation network that sends foreign recruits from Europe to Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Chechnya, the Russian Federation. In 2003, Arif was arrested in Syria and put on trial in France in
2004 with 25 others as part of the ‘Chechen Network’ (not listed). The group was accused of plotting in
2002 to blow up the Eiffel Tower and to carry out attacks on malls and police stations in France. In 2006
Arif was convicted for his role and membership in the group, which an appeal court in 2007 increased to
the maximum sentence of ten years. After his arrest, Arif confessed that Al-Qaida was planning to attack
an American military base in Spain using chemical weapons. Arif was also connected to an Al-Qaida cell
whose members were arrested in Barcelona, Spain. Arif was released in December 2011 and was placed
under house arrest in France.
However, in October 2013 he escaped and travelled to Syria where he joined Jabhat al-Nusrah, listed as
of Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant (QE.A.137.14).
Related listed individuals and entities:
Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01), listed on 6 October 2001
Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant (QE.A.137.14), listed on 14 May 2014
Posted with BlogsyFiled under: Al-Qaida Sanctions, Sanctions Lists, Terrorism, UN Updates
