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.
Mounir el Motassadeq was listed on 30 September 2002 pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 of resolution 1390 (2002) 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” Al-Qaida (QDe.004).
Mounir el Motassadeq was a member of a group formed in Hamburg, Germany, in the period between the summer of 1999 and 11 September 2001, that aimed to commit terrorist acts against Western countries, in particular against the United States of America. Members of the group included Mohamed el Amir Awad Elsayed Atta, Marwan Yousef Mohamed Rashed Alshehhi and Ziad Samir Jarrah, who conducted and died in terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the United States of America, and Said Bahaji (QDi.080), Ramzi Mohamed Abdullah Binalshibh (QDi.081) and Zakarya Essabar (QDi.083).
By November 1999, a structured group emerged under the leadership of Mohamed Atta comprising also the persons referred to above; the members of this group were willing launch attacks particularly against “Americans and Jews”. The members of the group resolved to undertake initial steps towards planning and executing attacks. Subsequent to attending Al-Qaida (QDe.004) camps in Afghanistan, where they sought military training, they intended to commit major attacks involving explosives.
In line with their plans and between mid-November 1999 and the beginning of December 1999, Atta, Alshehhi, Binalshibh and Jarrah traveled via Pakistan to an Al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan. Within Al-Qaida plans had already been made to commit attacks in the United States of America using airplanes as weapons. Within a short space of time, Atta, Alshehhi, Jarrah and Binalshibh were recruited by Usama bin Laden (deceased) and other Al-Qaida leaders to take part as pilots in these attacks. They returned to Germany at the beginning of 2000 and began to prepare for the attacks to take place on 11 September 2001.
Mounir el Motassadeq willfully and knowingly supported the preparations for the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the United States of America. Mounir el Motassadeq, together with Essabar and Jarrah, was present at meetings held at an apartment rented jointly by Atta, Bahaji and Binalshibh in Hamburg, Germany, that served as the initial operational base, and where Alshehhi also lived for some time.
After the return of Atta, Alshehhi, Jarrah and Binalshibh from Afghanistan, Mounir el Motassadeq traveled to Afghanistan himself, with their agreement. He left Germany on 22 May 2000 and returned on 1 August 2000, during which time he received military training in Afghanistan at a camp near Kandahar.
During the absence of the other members, Mounir el Motassadeq and Bahaji acted as leaders of the terrorist organization in Hamburg sharing the tasks of those who were absent and cooperating closely. Mounir el Motassadeq played a significant role in financing the organization’s terrorist activities. This mainly involved having access to Alshehhi’s account, which served as the financial source. Mounir el Motassadeq ensured that the account was credited with student grants by transferring Alshehhi’s semester fees. Fully aware of purposes to which the money was to be put, Mounir el Motassadeq transferred money from Alshehhi’s account to the account of Binalshibh, which Binalshibh passed on to Alshehhi in the United States to finance his flight training. Mounir el Motassadeq also used Alshehhi’s account to fund Binalshibh’s and Essabar’s planned flight training as well as to benefit other members of organization. So as not to endanger the preparations for the attacks, Mounir el Motassadeq concealed, in January 2001, the whereabouts of Marwan Alshehhi when officials of the United Arab Emirates and Alshehhi’s brother were looking for him in Hamburg.
Mounir el Motassadeq was arrested on 28 November 2001, accused of murder and offences constituting a danger to public safety by the authorities of Germany. He was found guilty of being an accessory to murder and of membership in a terrorist organization and sentenced on 8 January 2007 to 15 years of imprisonment. Since 2 May 2007, he has been held in penal detention.