Indian origin man designated as global terrorist by US

WASHINGTON: The United States has designated Indian- origin Islamic State militant from Britain Siddhartha Dhar as global terrorist and imposed sanctions on him.

According to the US State Department said, Dhar had skipped police bail in the UK to travel to Syria with his wife and young children in 2014.

Dhar was dubbed as the “New Jihadi John” and became a senior commander of the dreaded outfit.

Dhar is believed to be the masked leader who appeared in a January 2016 ISIS video of the execution of several prisoners ISIS accused of spying for the UK, the statement said.

The State Department has designated two ISIS members, Siddhartha Dhar and Abdelatif Gaini, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under Section 1(b) of Executive Order which also imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the US, a state department spokesperson said in a statement.

These designations seek to deny Dhar and Gaini the resources they need to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks, it said.

Among other consequences, all of Dhars and Gainis property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them, the US statement said.

Dhar was a leading member of now-defunct terrorist organisation Al-Muhajiroun. In late 2014, Dhar left the United Kingdom to travel to Syria to join ISIS, it said.

He is considered to have replaced ISIS executioner Mohammad Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John”, it said.