The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated five individuals and four entities for their role in financing the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an al Qaida affiliate known for engaging in terrorist activity in Libya and cooperating with al Qaida worldwide. "The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group threatens global safety and stability through the use of violence and its ideological alliance with al Qaida and other brutal terrorist organizations," said Patrick O'Brien, the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crime. "Through a sophisticated charitable front operation and other companies, the individuals designated today have financially supported LIFG's activities."Today's designation, which is carried out by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), was executed under Executive Order 13224, an authority that targets the assets of terrorists and their financiers. The individuals and entities supported the LIFG through various financial means, primarily in the United Kingdom. The LIFG was formed in the early 1990s in Afghanistan, and formally announced its existence in 1995. The group relocated to Libya where it sought to overthrow Muammar Qadhafi and replace his regime with a hard-line Islamic state. The LIFG mounted several operations inside Libya including a 1996 attempt to assassinate Qadhafi, but these failed to topple the regime. Following a Libyan government security campaign against LIFG in the mid- to late 1990s, the group abandoned Libya and continued its activities in exile.
The group is part of the wider al Qaida-associated movement that continues to threaten global peace and security. Accordingly, LIFG was designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224 on September 23, 2001. On October 6, 2001, the United Nations Security Council also added LIFG to its consolidated list of entities associated with al Qaida.