One of the sons of late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been put on the US counter-terrorism blacklist.
It means any assets Hamza bin Laden may hold in areas under American jurisdiction can be frozen and he is stopped from using the US financial system.
Hamza, along with a leader of Yemen-based franchise al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ibrahim al Banna, have been identified as “specially designated global terrorists”.
US citizens and companies are forbidden for conducting any business with designated terrorists, and law enforcement agencies worldwide are alerted to their status.
Hamza, who is in his mid-20s, has become active as an al Qaeda propagandist since his Saudi-born father was killed by American special forces in Pakistan on 2 May, 2011.
He has been described as “the new face for al Qaeda” and “an articulate enemy”, said analyst Bruce Reidel.
Hamza has called for acts of terrorism in western capitals and threatened to take revenge against America for his father’s killing, according to the US State Department.
It added he has threatened to target Americans abroad and urged Saudi tribes to unite with AQAP in Yemen to fight against Saudi Arabia.
Hamza was thought to be under house arrest in Iran at the time of his father’s death.
He had written to his father asking to be trained to follow him, according to letters found in the Navy Seal raid on bin Laden’s hideout.
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri has declared him a member of the organisation, according to the State Department.
Al Zawahiri took up the reins of the organisation after bin Laden’s death, but Hamza has also issued audio messages to supporters.
He is thought to have been born in 1989 in the Saudi city of Jeddah and his mother was Khairiah Sabar, one of bin Laden senior’s three wives.
In a message released last August, Hamza urged his Saudi supporters to rebel and overthrow the kingdom’s rulers.
And in a message that came out in May, he urged the jihadist factions fighting in Syria to unite, arguing the “blessed Syrian revolution” would lead to “liberating Palestine”.
Al Banna – also on the terror list – is a senior member of AQAP who has served as the group’s security chief and provided military and security advice to AQAP leaders, the State Department said.
Source: Sky News
