In accordance with paragraph 13 of resolution 1822 (2008) and subsequent related resolutions, the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee makes accessible a narrative summary of reasons for the listing for individuals, groups, undertakings and entities included in the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.
Habib ben Ahmed al-Loubiri was listed on 23 June 2004 pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 16 of resolution 1526 (2004) as being associated with Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban 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”, “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to”, “recruiting for” or “otherwise supporting acts or activities of” Al-Qaida (QDe.004) and the Organization of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (QDe.014).
Habib ben Ahmed al-Loubiri has belonged to a terrorist organization operating in Italy, primarily in the Lombardy region. In particular, the organization has been involved in criminal activity on behalf of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, listed as the Organization of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (QDe.014), and other Al-Qaida-related (QDe.004) terrorist groups operating in Europe and elsewhere. Members include Al-Loubiri, Sami ben Khamis ben Saleh Elsseid (QDi.064), and Adel ben al-Azhar ben Youssef Hamdi (QDi.068).
The organization aimed to traffic in arms and chemicals, to help militants of the organization enter Italy, and to provide them with forged documents and other logistic support. In order to finance their terrorist activities, members of the organization engaged in a variety of criminal activities relating to false documentation, fraud (including automobile insurance fraud), and the sale of stolen goods. The organization also recruited individuals for terrorist training courses held in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region.
The organization used cooperative societies to raise funds and to provide its members with logistic support. Members administered these cooperatives as officers or directors and owned companies that participated in the illicit activities performed by the cooperatives. For example, the companies provided the cooperatives with false invoices which were then paid in cash and never deposited in a bank account. The organization sent cash outside Italy through alternative remittance systems to individuals belonging to terrorist organizations.
Al-Loubiri was involved in the administration of parts of these cooperatives related to the terrorist organization.
Al-Loubiri was arrested in Milan, Italy in 2003 for providing logistical support to the Organization of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (QDe.014). On 26 January 2005, Al-Loubiri was sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Military Tribunal in Tunis for joining a terrorist organization abroad (case No. 16851). He was expelled from Italy on 30 August 2006 to Tunisia. On 10 January 2007 he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and subjected to administrative supervision by the Military Tribunal in Tunis for putting himself at the disposal of a terrorist organization abroad during peacetime (case No. 40464 and case No. 40465).
Al-Loubiri reportedly fled to Afghanistan in June 2014 as a result of Operation Zarb-e-Azb launched by Pakistan.