* Saudi Arabia opposed removal of Faqih from blacklist
* Britain, Faqih’s host, supported removal; U.S. opposed
* Faqih cites “laborious battle” to get off blacklist
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, July 2 (Reuters) – A U.N. Security Council
committee has removed Saudi dissident Saad al-Faqih and his
Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) from the U.N. al
Qaeda sanctions list, Germany’s U.N. envoy confirmed on Monday.
Reuters reported on Sunday that the decision to de-list
Faqih came after the 15-nation council’s al Qaeda sanctions
committee failed to reach a consensus to override the al
Qaeda-sanctions-list ombudsman, who had recommended removing
Faqih from the U.N. blacklist.
“After thorough consideration by the Committee the entries
in the Al Qaeda Sanctions List related to Mr. Saad Rashed
Mohammed al-Faqih and (his group) were removed from the Al Qaeda
Sanctions List today,” German U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig said
in a statement.
“The key question the Committee has to consider is whether
there is sufficient information to provide a reasonable and
credible basis for concluding that an individual, group,
undertaking, or entity is associated with al Qaeda,” said
Wittig, who chairs the al Qaeda sanctions committee.
A U.N. diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity that
Faqih “may not be a saint but he doesn’t belong on this list.”
Continued…
