Pinoy, 2 more men in gory IS video added to US blacklist

Sigal Mandelker, US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. AFP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON—Three Southeast Asians who appeared in a 2016 Islamic State (IS) video showing the beheading of a captive were added to the US Treasury’s sanctions blacklist on Friday.

The US Treasury said Malaysian Mohamad Rafi Udin, Indonesian Mohammed Karim Yusop Faiz and Filipino Mohammad Reza Lahaman Kiram all took part in the June 2016 video made in Syria in which IS members execute a prisoner.

‘Propaganda campaign’

Sigal Mandelker, treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the video was “part of a propaganda campaign to attract radicals to join militant terrorist groups in Southeast Asia.”

Udin, 52, is a well-known Malaysian militant, having been detained in 2003-2006 for his association with the radical Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

As of last November, he was believed to be the seniormost Malaysian in IS in Syria, the US Treasury said.

Faiz, 49, was imprisoned in the Philippines for nine years on explosives and weapons charges. After being released, he traveled to Syria in 2014 and joined IS.

Kiram, 28, is believed to be responsible for the bombing of a bus in Zamboanga in 2012. He was still in Syria fighting for Islamic State as of January 2017, the Treasury said.  —AFP