Bombing figure added to U.N. terror list

WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- A member of al-Qaida hiding in Yemen has been added to a U.N. list that requires member nations to freeze assets and institute a travel ban, U.S. officials say.

Anwar al-Aulaqi, an operative of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, was involved in preparing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for the Dec. 25, 2009, attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253, a U.S. State Department release said Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has designated al-Aulaqi under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.

The designation, and the placing of al-Aulaqi on the U.N. list, is intended to cut off domestic and international financing of al-Aulaqi and AQAP, the State Department said.

"Today's designation of Anwar al-Aulaqi is in direct response to the operational role he plays in AQAP, and most importantly because of the integral part he played in planning AQAP's attempted destruction of Northwest Airlines flight 253 over the United States," Daniel Benjamin, the Department of State's Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said. "Anwar al-Aulaqi and AQAP actively engage in terrorist plotting with the intent to harm U.S. citizens. The (United Nations') listing of al-Aulaqi highlights the threat al-Aulaqi poses to the international community," Benjamin said.