Salih al-Sha'ari is being designated for providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, ISIL, an entity designated pursuant to E.O. 13224.
Libyan national al-Sha'ari is an ISIL facilitator who has previously been associated with the group's predecessor, the U.S. and UN-designated al-Qaida in Iraq. Now-deceased former AQI leader Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi trained al-Sha'ari. In mid-2012, al-Sha'ari was released from an Iraqi prison and returned to Libya, where he continued to support ISIL, subsequently starting a branch of ISIL in late 2014. From late 2012, al-Sha'ari provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to several individuals, including senior ISIL member and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) Tariq Bin al-Tahar Bin al Falih al-‘Awni al-Harzi (AKA Tariq Abu Umar al-Tunisi), and provided experienced, trusted personnel to aid al-Harzi. By early 2014, al-Sha'ari and other associates had sworn themselves to ISIL and in the fall of 2014 he led ISIL convoys in Darnah, Libya.
On June 6, 2003, OFAC issued the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 594 (68 FR 34196, June 6, 2003 (“the Regulations”), to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 of September 23, 2001, “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism” (66 FR 49079, September 25, 2001). OFAC has amended the Regulations on several occasions.
On September 9, 2019, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA) and the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), issued E.O. 13886, “Modernizing Sanctions To Combat Terrorism” (84 FR 48041, September 12, 2019), effective September 10, 2019. In E.O. 13886, the President, finding it necessary to consolidate and enhance sanctions to combat acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism by foreign terrorists, terminated the national emergency declared in E.O. 12947 of January 23, 1995, “Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process” (60 FR 5079, January 25, 1995), and revoked E.O. 12947, as amended by E.O. 13099 of August 20, 1998, “Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process” (63 FR 45167, August 25, 1998). In addition, the President amended E.O. 13224, in order to build upon initial steps taken in E.O. 12947, to further strengthen and consolidate sanctions to combat the continuing threat posed by international terrorism, and in order to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency declared in E.O. 13224, with respect to the continuing and immediate threat of grave acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism committed by foreign terrorists, which include acts of terrorism that threaten the Middle East peace process.
Section 1 of E.O. 13886 replaces in its entirety section 1 of E.O. 13224, which had been amended by a number of prior Executive orders (E.O. 13224, as amended by all such authorities, is referred to herein as “amended E.O. 13224”), but does not amend the Annex to E.O. 13224, which was previously amended by E.O. 13268 of July 2, 2002, “Termination of Emergency With Respect to the Taliban and Amendment of Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001” (67 FR 44751, July 3, 2002) (“amended Annex to E.O. 13224”).
