“Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani is an Iraqi Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader who manages arriving foreign terrorist fighters, handles guesthouses for them, and transports suicide bombers on behalf of ISIL [Daesh],” the US State Department said in a press release, explaining the designation.
The release added, “He is also reportedly an advisor who reports to… ISIL senior leader… Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.”
The US also sanctioned Abdelilah Himich, also known as Abu Suleyman, a Moroccan-born French national accused of plotting the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris on behalf of Daesh.
“Himich created the Tariq Ibn Ziyad Battalion in 2015, a European foreign terrorist fighter cell that has provided operatives for ISIL attacks in Iraq, Syria, and abroad,” the State Department said in a press release, explaining the designation.
The US also sanctioned Basil Hassan, a Lebanese-born Danish national accused of plotting the Islamic State’s external operations and murdering a Danish writer.
In 2014, Hassan was arrested in Turkey in connection with the shooting death of 70-year-old Lars Hedegaard, a Danish writer and critic of Islam.
"After being arrested in Turkey in 2014, he was released as part of an alleged exchange for 49 hostages held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," the State Department said in a press release explaining the sanctions.
