NARRATIVE SUMMARIES OF REASONS FOR LISTING
QI.A.230.07. SAID YOUSSEF ALI ABU AZIZA
Date on which the narrative summary became available on the Committee’s website: 6 April 2009
Said Youssef Ali Abu Aziza was listed on 8 June 2007, pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 12 of resolution 1735 (2006) as being associated with Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01) and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (QE.L.11.01) for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of” and “recruiting for” both entities.
Additional information:
Said Youssef Ali Abu Aziza is a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) (QE.L.11.01) as well as of Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01), and a recruiter for both groups.
In the 1980s, Abu Aziza was involved in recruiting Libyan youth and sending them to Afghanistan to be trained and to gain combat experience in order to prepare them for terrorist acts in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. In 1988, he fled to Algeria where he worked clandestinely recruiting Libyan youth and making their travel arrangements to Afghanistan. Abu Aziza left Algeria for Pakistan where he stayed at Usama Bin Laden’s (QI.B.8.01) Al-Ansar hospitality house. He later went to Afghanistan where he received terrorist training in Bin Laden’s Asda training camp. During the Afghan conflict he worked as an aviation mechanic at Khost airport, Afghanistan. He also fought in Khost and Jalalabad.
Abu Aziza joined Al-Qaida once it was established by Bin Laden. He was responsible for Al-Qaida’s publication and mass media operations. He also supervised Bin Laden’s hospitality house in Peshawar, Pakistan. Bin Laden considered him indispensable, particularly for recruitment.
He was arrested in Pakistan in 1993 together with other Libyans for possession of weapons, ammunition, explosives, forged travel documents, and large amounts of local and foreign currency. During their arrest, one of the group members threw a bomb at the police. The group was detained in Pakistan until the Peshawar court issued a deportation order.
Abu Aziza left Pakistan with other Al-Qaida operatives for Sudan where, in 1995, he joined LIFG and was assigned to its mass media committee. Abu Aziza has long been involved in recruiting new LIFG members and sending them to Afghanistan for military training and combat experience. On behalf of LIFG, Aziza has focused on the return of recruits to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to conduct operations against the government.
He then left Sudan for the Netherlands and Canada where he applied for asylum. Abu Aziza was identified as a member of Al-Qaida in Canada in 2003. In 2004, he became the leader of LIFG in Canada where, in mid-2005, he was soliciting donations and recruits for LIFG operations.
LIFG is part of the Al-Qaida movement. It officially announced its formation in 1995 among Libyans who had fought in Afghanistan and against the regime in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. LIFG is believed to have participated in the planning of the May 2003 bombings in Casablanca, Morocco, and has been linked to the 2004 attacks in Madrid, Spain. On 3 November 2007, LIFG formally merged with Al-Qaida. The merger was announced through a website affiliated with Al-Qaida (the Al-Sahab media group) by two video clips; the first by Al-Qaida second-in-command Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri (QI.A.6.01), the second by Abu Laith al-Libi, at that time a senior member of LIFG, and a senior leader and trainer for Al-Qaida in Afghanistan.
Related listed individuals and entities:
Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01), listed on 6 October 2001
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (QE.L.11.01), listed on 6 October 2001
Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri (QI.A.6.01), listed on 25 January 2001
Usama Muhammed Awad bin Laden (QI.B.8.01), listed on 25 January 2001
Aly Soliman Massoud Abdul Sayed (QI.A.229.07), listed on 8 June 2007
Salem Nor Eldin Amohamed al-Dabski (QI.A.231.07), listed on 8 June 2007