“We already have a lot of these tools… we’re going to be bringing together a lot of strands, but what we most need now is states to do what they’re supposed to do”, said a USA official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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It calls ISIL a splinter group of al-Qaida and stresses that “any individual, group, undertaking, or entity supporting ISIL or al-Qaida” is subject to United Nations sanctions, including an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
“Unfortunately the obligations… are not being implemented by all and everywhere”, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council, adding that “special responsibility for suppressing the channels for financing of ISIL unavoidably rests with states neighboring on Iraq and Syria“.
The December 17 resolution “expresses concern about the lack of implementation” of previous resolutions targeting militants, including an “insufficient level of reporting” by states on their implementation of United Nations sanctions.
At the same time, Lew said, ISIL has vulnerabilities because it needs large and sustained streams of income to pay fighters, procure weapons, and provide basic services for people living in areas it controls.
The fact the Islamic State group is still able to deal in oil and artefacts and extort people is “a problem we should be able to solve”, she said.
To cut off oil revenue, Lew said the U.S.-led coalition has been attacking ISIL’s entire oil supply chain from oil fields and refineries to destroying almost 400 of its tanker trucks in the past month.
The Russian plan for solving the conflict “strangely as it may seem, coincides with the United States vision in its key aspects: joint work on a constitution, creation of instruments of control over future early elections, holding the vote and recognizing its results on the basis of that political process”, Putin said during his traditional end-of-year Q&A session with journalists on Thursday.
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the extremist group’s oil revenues are estimated to represent 40-45 percent of IS’ income.
Around half of the group’s funds come from looted property and extortion, 43% from oil sales and the rest from electricity sales, donations and drug smuggling, says IHS.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would rename the U.N. Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida “the ISIL (Daesh) and al-Qaida sanctions committee”.
Szubin said that the body would also call on countries to step up information sharing across borders and with the private sector.
The resolution adopted Thursday is drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which can be militarily enforced.
The resolution urges countries to “move vigorously and decisively to cut the flow of funds, and other financial assets and economic resources” including oil and antiquities to IS, and to “more actively” submit names to the sanctions list.
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The resolution also asks countries to report on what they have accomplished in disrupting IS’ financing within the next 120 days.
