UN tightens al-Qaida, Taliban sanctions

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council Friday tightened sanctions against the Taliban and al-Qaida to make them more effective in the anti-terrorism fight.

"We've learned the lessons of our past errors to close the gaps that we had in the previous regime system," Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile told reporters following the resolution's adoption, adding that the process of improving the measures would continue. President of the al-Qaida, Taliban sanctions committee, Munoz is winding up a month as president of the Security Council.

The sanctions were originally adopted and later tightened in response to the indictment of Osama bin Laden for the 1998 terrorist bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

The latest resolution covers additional kinds of financial assets and establishes mechanisms to ensure implementation.

"The idea is to, through renewed efforts, not only freeze assets and economic resources, but very specific reference is made to properties, to concrete resources other than bank accounts," Munoz said. "I think that is a strong signal so that countries do what they have to do -- in other words, comply with the Security Council resolutions."