US designates Russia's Wagner military group an intl 'criminal organization'

Yahoo - AFP, January 20, 2023 

The United States on Friday designated Russia's Wagner group as a "transnational criminal organization," raising pressure on the private Russian army fighting in Ukraine. 

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wagner, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to President Vladimir Putin, has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 percent of them drawn from prisons. 

Kirby showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, and said the private army has become a rival to the formal Russian military. 

The photographs, from November 18-19, show Russian rail cars entering North Korea, picking up a load of infantry rockets and missiles, and returning to Russia, he said. 

He said the US Treasury was formally designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organization, putting it in league with Italian mafia groups and Japanese and Russian organized crime. 

The designation will allow the wider application of sanctions on the group’s sprawling global network, which includes mercenary operations as well as businesses in Africa and elsewhere. 

Wagner "is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses," Kirby said. 

"We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting Wagner," he said. 

Kirby also said the United States had presented its intelligence on Wagner's North Korean purchase to the UN Security Council's unit on North Korea sanctions. 

The arms transfers from North Korea are in direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, Kirby said. 

Kirby said there is evidence that Prigozhin's confidence in Wagner fighters' relative success in Ukraine has generated tensions in the Kremlin. 

"Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries," Kirby said. 

"Prigozhin is trying to advance his own interest in Ukraine and Wagner is making military decisions based largely on what they will generate for Prigozhin, in terms of positive publicity."

Baghdadi's wife revealed IS group secrets after capture

Yahoo – AFP, November 7, 2019

Turkey has revealed that slain Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's wife was
captured last year and disclosed details about the jihadist group's "inner workings".
(AFP Photo/HANDOUT)

Istanbul (AFP) - The wife of slain Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi revealed "a lot of information" about the jihadist group's "inner workings" after she was captured last year, a Turkish official said.

The official said that Baghdadi's spouse identified herself as Rania Mahmoud but was in fact Asma Fawzi Muhammad Al-Qubaysi.

She was said to be the "first wife" of the IS leader, who was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria last month.

The woman was arrested on June 2, 2018 in the province of Hatay, near the Syrian border, along with 10 others, including Baghdadi's daughter, who identified herself as Leila Jabeer.

The official said the family links were confirmed using a DNA sample of Baghdadi provided by Iraqi authorities.

"We discovered (the wife's) real identity pretty quickly. At that point, she volunteered a lot of information about Baghdadi and the inner workings of ISIS," the official said.

"We were able to confirm a lot of things that we already knew. We also obtained new information that led to a series of arrests elsewhere."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed for the first time on Wednesday that she had been detained.

"We caught his wife -- I say this today for the first time -- but we didn't make a big fuss about it," Erdogan told a gathering of students in Ankara.

He confirmed that Turkey had also captured Baghdadi's sister and brother-in-law.

Erdogan took a swipe at the United States for making a big deal of Baghdadi's killing, saying: "They started a very big communication operation."

The IS leader was killed in a US special forces raid carried out with the help of Kurdish fighters in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, just across the border from Turkey.

According to the US account, Baghdadi ran into a dead-end tunnel in his hideout and detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and two children.

The raid came in the wake of a Turkish military offensive against the Kurdish militants, who have been a close ally of the West in the fight against IS, but are viewed as terrorists by Ankara.

Related Articles:

UN Security Council binding resolution makes terror financing a serious crime

2015 Kryon Kundalini Tour (Cusco #2, Peru) - "The Dysfunction of Darkness" - Nov, 14, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Paris/ISIS/Dark-Old Energy/USA+Warning for Governments around the World !!!) - (Text version)

"... Funding is the Grease of the Engine of Darkness

Everyone on the planet will have to get off the fence in order to eliminate the dark army. Now we have told you before how to do it. And politicians will roll their eyes. Those on the inside of government who know how things work will roll their eyes. You can eliminate the dark army without death. The very thing they're afraid of losing, you can take from them now. Money! How does a dark army work when they can't eat? How will they function when they have no weapons? I guarantee you, even the darkest member of a dark army will go home if they're not fed, or there's no one around to organize them because the leaders are hungry and left. It's impossible, some say. The money is coming from unknown sources, they say. Let me tell you something. No, it isn't. It is coming from very known sources. Much of it comes from the resources of conquered land, but not all. They will start losing their land soon, so they will need funds all the more. If the sources of their income were totally exposed - there are those listening who need to hear this - if the sources of their income were totally exposed, it would make a big difference to the public, who would be shocked.

Let me talk to politicians. You regularly sit across the table from those who are from other countries and who are allies. They smile at you as they fund the dark side. After all, there is money to be made with war! This has been the way of it for years. But this won't last long. Politician, when it's found out that you knew about it, you are the one who will be held responsible. You didn't do anything about it.

I want to talk to Americans, because my partner [Lee] is an American. I'm going to tell you something now, and you're not going to believe it. Many of your hard-earned tax funds are finding their way to the dark army! And there are those within your government who know it. I'll give you an answer as to what to do about it in just a few words: International transparent forensic accounting. International transparent forensic accounting! It is time to clean up the funding of the dark, and kill their ability to make war. (***)

I have a warning for any of those in leadership who know about where the money is coming from, and are not doing anything about it. Your leadership days are numbered. The light is going to expose it and you will lose. Why not get on the right side of the fence now?

Is this too high-minded? Is this too simple? To think that the world could come together and pull the rug from under the darkness where they sit and the cocoon of money that they're in - could this actually happen? Watch for a wild card! [Kryon chuckles again.]

If you did this, would it change the kind of attack you had in Paris? After all, that wasn't an army at all, but just a few. The answer is yes - for the few answer to the many and were trained by the many. They saw the many as an established core to work from. Without the core, there is no purpose. The few are then on their own, without anything backing them up.

It's up to you listening, not the ones in this room. The ones listening and reading later may not even be into Kryon or channeling, but they hear this and know I'm right. This is not a dark message. It's a light message! The beginning is here. Things are changing. You are witnessing the change as we speak.

There'll come a day when you will never see this happen again, these organized groups of evil. This is the joyful message I have for you today. History will remember these times when the world finally got together and realized where they were going. It is tough now. It changes the paradigm of existence. Lives, governments and business will all start to understand the battle is here and is theirs to win. What is your reaction?

I want you to congratulate, love, and understand those who were lost yesterday [in Paris]. I've said this before: They are on my side of the veil now. They're all right. They're now looking back at you and - we have used the phrase before - they're saying, “We did our part. Now you do yours.” They will return to this planet, all of them, and participate in the beauty of the light you are creating at this time of shift on your planet.

Believe me, the end has already happened. This is the beginning.

I am in love with humanity, because of what I have seen you do.

And so it is.

KRYON

(*) "The Recalibration of Dark and Light"

www.kryon.com/k_channel11_San%20Antonio-12.html

(**) "Revelations of Darkness"

www.kryon.com/CHAN2014/k_channel14_Philadelphia-14.html

(***) Within days, a petition was circulating for this exact thing: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/create-international-transparent-forensic-accounting-system-end-all-funding-terrorist-groups-isisisisil

US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew (R) votes yes on a wide-ranging draft

 resolution aimed at ramping up sanctions against the Islamic State group as

 finance ministers gather at the United Nations Security Council on December 17,

2015 (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

UN unanimously adopts resolution targeting IS finances

"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. Do Not Despair

There's too much information to give you in one channelling, in one sitting, so I refer to past messages for you to better understand and reference the information in order to get the bigger picture. So I wish to remind you of something I also told you in a recent channelling called Do Not Despair. You're winning! It's because you're winning that the dark consciousness on this planet is feeling it, and the humanity that represents darkness is pulling out everything it has to survive.

It Has Always Been There

Let's look at it, because it's all over the news. Are you shocked at the sudden existence of the organization that will remain unnamed [for this channelling]? Where did it come from? How could it be so organized? How could it be so well funded? This organization could have its own country soon! They might as well name it, “The Old Energy Dark Country”, for that's what it will represent.

The barbaric past of humanity comes forward to show its face. It has always been there, hiding under the rocks and between the cracks of civilized humanity. It couldn't show itself until now, but now it has to. It's ugly and it's not for the faint at heart, is it, dear ones? Seeing evil personified in Human action is abhorrent. It is so ugly and so dark that you cannot look upon it with a gentle heart. God is not a part of it and this is obvious.

You're winning! Light is winning! The uprising of dark consciousness would not have shown itself with this strength, or this quickly, if this were not so. This is exactly what I told you to look for, and it is proof that those representing this dark consciousness are in trouble. Dear ones, dark consciousness has always had a tried-and-true system. It lurks in the shadows and influences all the power places of the planet - government, commerce, finance. Suddenly, it can't hide there as well anymore and it's out in the open.

Where is the funding coming from? It is coming from a storehouse that has always been there, dear ones. It uses income that has been generated from low consciousness acts, collected for a very long time. Funding didn't just appear. It has been stored, waiting to be used in order to spread fear and darkness to save what they believe is their way.

Who Will Win?

Dear ones, they haven't got a chance! But it looks like they do, doesn't it? Everything that they are doing is calculated to scare you into submission. Are they winning? Now, that's a question I want you to take from here and examine every day.

Fear is black. If you're in fear, there is no light. You can be the grandest Lightworker, or even be the channeller, but if you're in fear, it doesn't matter how many years you've done light work, or how much light you've accumulated personally. It all goes away with fear, and then they've won the battle for your mind. Do you understand this?

The Strength of the Old Soul - YOU

Old souls, Lightworkers reading this, the experiences you have had over lifetimes and lifetimes are incredible! The old soul knows fear. I don't want to be too graphic, but I want you to understand! What was it like when you put your head in the guillotine because you talked about God in a way that was inappropriate? What was it like to be bound hand and foot when they lit the match at your feet? Old soul, that's fear! You carry those experiences in your Akash.

I want to tell you they haven't got a chance to scare you! You absolutely know what fear is, and they haven't got a chance as long as you cling to that part of you that is the strength of God. You've been through it all. That means you've got the weapons of truth, wisdom and light. Don't forget it. Don't forget who you are!

Do you see how fast they assembled? It seemed like only yesterday that there was no organization at all. Where did they come from? Have you noticed a certain hesitancy to fight them? Why is it that the citizens of the lands that they are invading are hesitant to fight them? Instead, these leaders are calling on others to help. Why is it that the others are also hesitant? I want to show you that there are some anomalies of logic that are not making sense, because this is a battle you have never seen before on this planet. We've expected it, but you haven't. It's about consciousness, not land or resources.

How to Win?

We gave you the secret before of how to defeat them without taking even one life: Simply take away their funding. They cannot exist without their funding. The funding has to be organized, stored, and distributed. It has to be generated in such a way that it must also go through institutions. Did you hear that? All you have to do is stop the system. Winning won't be done with bombing. It's going to be done with intelligence, clever thinking and financial forensics. It's time to get smart on some of these things and not to be afraid to look at this puzzle differently than you have before. Do not apply the energy they are using in order to fight them, because you won't win. Figure it out. It's the last bastion of organized darkness and evil thinking on this planet coming together to try to survive the assault of your light. Don't be afraid to look at the funding trail, no matter where it takes you.

Fear is Their Weapon

I want you to know something as you look at your news. It may appear that you are unable to stop them. In many places, they will gain strength as they create fear. The fear is easily created in those who are not old souls and who don't know fear like you do and who don't have the armor of your spiritual experiences. This puts you in the front line, dear one. Did you realize that? But you don't have to go fight them on their terms. All you have to do is broadcast light. High consciousness will beat fear any day.. .”

Russian attempt to hack chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague thwarted

DutchNews, October 4, 2018, Gordon Darroch and Senay Boztas

The OPCW headquarters in The Hague. Photo: Wikimedia Commons 

Dutch intelligence agencies have thwarted an attempt by Russian agents to hack into the wi-fi network of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague. 

Four agents from the GRU military intelligence service were ejected from the Netherlands immediately after the attempted breach was intercepted on April 13 this year, major-general Onno Eichelsheim, director of the military intelligence service MIVD, told apress conference in The Hague. He added that the OPCW’s security was not breached. 

The OPCW is carrying out forensic tests in the investigation into the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4. The Skripals were targeted with a nerve agent known as Novichok, developed in the former Soviet Union, but Moscow has denied any involvement. 

Eichelsheim said the four agents were operating out of a Citroen car parked outside the Marriott Hotel, which is next to the organisations headquarters on Johann de Wittlaan. They arrived in the country on April 10 on diplomatic passports with almost identical serial numbers. 

Close access

They were disrupted while an attempt was made at a ‘close access hack operation’ at around 4.30pm on Friday. Equipment found in the boot of the car included an antenna pointed at the OPCW building and digital devices used to intercept login details.

The car the Russians hired. Photo: Ministerie van defensie

Eichelsheim said the four Russians were ‘clearly not here on holiday’. They were carrying €20,000 and US $20,000 in cash, took their rubbish from their hotel room when they left and tried to destroy their mobile phones when they were intercepted. One of the phones had been activated close to the special services centre in Moscow. 

A further clue was the discovery of a taxi receipt from GRU headquarters to Moscow airport. 

The equipment the men surrendered also included a laptop computer which had apparently been used to infiltrate the Malaysian police and judicial authorities. Malaysia is involved in the investigation into the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, which the Netherlands holds Russia accountable for. 

Data found on the laptop also suggested it had been used in the Swiss city of Lausanne to hack into computers belonging to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is investigating institutional drug use in Russian sport. 

International co-operation 

Defence minister Ank Bijleveld said the Dutch government was sending out a clear message to Moscow to stop undermining cybersecurity in other countries. The Russian ambassador to The Hague has been summoned to appear before foreign minister Stef Blok. 

‘The Dutch cabinet is very concerned that the OPCW was the target of an interception by the Russian military intelligence service,’ Bijleveld said. 

‘I am proud of the MIVD, they have done excellent work. I want to emphasise that co-operation has played a big part in this success. Co-operation in the Netherlands, but also with our international intelligence partners. Good international co-operation is crucial in tackling threats such as the GRU.’ 

The men with a Russian embassy official at Schiphol. 

In response, Moscow issued its customary blunt denial of all accusations of wrongdoing. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the allegations as ‘big fantasies’. 

Prime minister Mark Rutte issued a joint statement with his British counterpart Theresa May earlier in the day condemning Russia’s ‘disregard for global values.’ 

They said: ‘The GRU’s reckless operations stretch from destructive cyber activity to the use of illegal nerve agents, as we saw in Salisbury. That attack left four people fighting for their lives and one woman dead. 

‘Our action today reinforces the clear message from the international community. We will uphold the rules-based international system, and defend international institutions from those that seek to do them harm.’ 

US charges 

Major-general Eichelsheim said the government had taken the unusual step of releasing details of the operation after US officials published charges against a number of Russian intelligence agents on Thursday. The Dutch government hopes that making the information public will make it harder for Russia to carry out such covert operations in future. 

British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said the incident was ‘part of a pattern of cyber-attacks’ in other countries in which the Russian government was implicated. 

He said: ‘If anyone had any questions in their mind about Russian military involvement in the Salisbury attacks, this will put to rest those doubts because we have evidence of the Russian military launching a cyber-attack on the very international organisation in the Netherlands set up to investigate those novichok attacks. And why would you do that if you weren’t the guilty party?’

#UPDATE The US Justice Department indicts seven agents of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency as part of a joint crackdown with Western allies on a series of major hacking plots attributed to Moscow https://t.co/aYWVlES6Zk

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 4, 2018

The Netherlands to press for more UN action against human traffickers

DutchNews, September 25, 2018

The Netherlands is working to establish an international network of diplomats and law enforcement agencies to locate the financial assets of human traffickers more quickly and encourage countries to freeze them, foreign minister Stef Blok told a meeting in New York on Monday. 

The Netherlands, Niger and Libya organised an international ministers’ conference in New York to focus on efforts to stamp out human trafficking ahead of this week’s UN Security Council meeting. 

The Security Council decision in June to impose sanctions on six human traffickers in Libya – which involved freezing their assets and banning them from crossing borders – is only the start, Blok said in a speech at the opening of the conference.

‘To make these measures truly bite, we need to realise that their adoption was only the start. A first step. The real work starts now,’ Blok said. 

‘The positive impact of the new measures lies partially in their deterrent effect. We know these individuals feel that they’ve been exposed, and backed into a corner. Other human traffickers are now feeling the pressure too. Their business model has suddenly dropped in value.’ 

Three key areas

The Netherlands, Blok said, wants to focus on three key areas: hunting down financial assets, expanding the sanctions list and replicating similar initiatives in other areas.

‘One example is the sanctions regime for Mali, which now enables specific targeting of those who engage in human trafficking and migrant smuggling,’ Blok said. 

Blok said the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague is already investigating whether human trafficking falls within the remit of the court. 

‘Several European countries, including my own, are exploring ways to have them brought to justice. Libya has issued numerous arrest warrants already. And the UN is helping African countries build capacity for the investigation and prosecution of human traffickers,’ Blok said. 

The UN Security Council, of which the Netherlands is a temporary member, meets in New York on Wednesday. 

Read Blok’s speech, in English 

Blok interviewed on the plans by CNN

ICC 'undeterred' after US sanctions threat

Yahoo – AFP, September 11, 2018

The Hague-based ICC was set up in 2002 with jurisdiction to investigate and
prosecute the world's worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity (AFP Photo/Martijn Beekman)

The Hague (AFP) - The International Criminal Court on Tuesday said its work would continue "undeterred" after Washington threatened to prosecute its officials if Americans are charged with war crimes committed in Afghanistan.

"The ICC, as a court of law, will continue to do its work undeterred, in accordance with those principles and the overarching idea of the rule of law," the tribunal said in a statement.

The Hague-based court's response comes a day after the United States threatened to arrest and sanction court officials should they move to charge any American who served in Afghanistan with war crimes.

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton called the Hague-based rights body "unaccountable" and "outright dangerous" to the United States, Israel and other allies, and said any probe of US service members would be "an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation".

US National Security Advisor John Bolton described the International Criminal
Court as 'outright dangerous' (AFP Photo/WIN MCNAMEE)

"If the court comes after us, Israel or other US allies, we will not sit quietly," Bolton said.

The US was prepared to slap financial sanctions and criminal charges on officials of the court if they proceed against any Americans, he added.

But in response, the ICC declared itself an "independent and impartial judicial institution".

It also stressed that it would only investigate and prosecute crimes when the states will not or can not do so.

The Hague-based ICC was set up in 2002 with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the world's worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court however does not have the capacity to arrest suspects and depends on member states for their cooperation.

The United States has not signed up to the court and in 2002 Congress passed a law enabling Washington to invade the Netherlands to liberate any US citizen held by the court.

Related Article:

Obama re-enters political fray: 'What happened to the Republican Party?'

ICC says can rule on Rohingya deportations from Myanmar

Yahoo – AFP, 6 September 2018

Some 700,000 people from the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority have fled 

Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August last 

year to escape a bloody military crackdown Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees 

staged angry protests for "justice" on August 25 on the first anniversary of a 

Myanmar military crackdown that sparked a mass exodus to camps in Bangladesh

The International Criminal Court said Thursday it had jurisdiction to probe the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar as a possible crime against humanity.

The ICC's "pre-trial chamber... decided by majority the court may exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportations of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh," the Hague-based tribunal said in a statement.

The Myanmar government on Thursday declined to comment on the announcement when contacted by AFP.

Some 700,000 people from the stateless Muslim minority have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August last year to escape a bloody military crackdown.

The violence has left a trail of torched villages in its wake, amid allegations of murder and rape at the hands of troops and vigilantes.

In an unprecedented move in April, the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked judges at the world's only permanent war crimes court to rule whether she can investigate the deportations as a crime against humanity.

It is a legally complicated request, as Myanmar is not a signatory and member of the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC.

Bangladesh,however, is a signatory and Bensouda argued that should give her office jurisdiction to investigate the plight of the Rohingya.

She likened deportation to "a cross-border shooting", arguing the crime "is not completed until the bullet (fired in one state) strikes and kills the victim (standing in another state)".

Interpol approves Palestinian membership bid

Yahoo – AFP, Ludovic EHRET, 27 September 2017

Interpol approved the Palestinian application along with a bid by the Solomon

Islands during its annual general assembly in Beijing

Interpol on Wednesday approved the Palestinian Authority's membership bid, a new victory in its drive for international representation despite strong Israeli opposition.

Israel lobbies hard against Palestinian efforts to join global organisations to advance their goal of statehood. It claimed victory last year when the Palestinian bid to join the global police body was suspended.

Interpol approved the Palestinian application along with a bid by the Solomon Islands during its annual general assembly in Beijing.

"New member countries State of Palestine and Solomon Islands bring INTERPOL's membership to 192," it said on its Twitter account.

It did not detail the voting but candidacies require the approval of a two-thirds majority of countries present at the general assembly, excluding abstentions.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation's negotiations affairs department said on Twitter they had received more than 75 percent of the vote.

"Palestine's membership is the outcome of members defending this organisation's raison d'etre and advancing its core values, and a clear rejection of attempts at cynical manipulation and political bullying," Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said in a statement.

Israel's foreign ministry did not immediately comment.

Palestine gained observer status at the United Nations in 2012 and since then has joined more than 50 international organisations and agreements, according to the Palestinian foreign ministry.

Among them are the International Criminal Court and the United Nations heritage body UNESCO.

Interpol, which is based in the French city of Lyon, eases the exchange of information between police forces and issues "red notices" -- non-binding notifications of arrest warrants -- at the request of a member state or an international tribunal.

'Israel blocks progress'

Senior Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub had told AFP on Sunday that "we're looking to be in all of the international institutions, including Interpol, as an organised state."

"We are looking for the Palestinian state to be a positive contributor toward security and stability in the region and in the international community," he said.

Regarding Israel's opposition, he said: "They don't want any progress toward a Palestinian state."

"Israel does not want us to be in FIFA. How would they want us to be in Interpol?" he said.

Alan Baker, a former senior Israeli diplomat and legal expert, said the membership application was "just a political PR move" on the part of the Palestinians.

"Because they're not interested in negotiating (with Israel) they're trying to achieve the end result, which is a state, through international organisations," he said ahead of Wednesday's vote.

Baker rejected the notion that Palestinians would be able to initiate arrest warrants at will against Israelis by joining Interpol.

He said the attempt by the Palestinians "to politicise what is a super-professional organisation is very harmful to Interpol".

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas kisses the Palestinian flag as Secretary 

General Ban Ki-moon looks during the flag raising ceremony on September 30, 

2015 at the UN in New York (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

Related Article:

Palestinian flag flies at UN for first time

UN unanimously adopts resolution targeting IS finances

Yahoo – AFP, 17 December 2015

US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew (R) votes yes on a wide-ranging draft

 resolution aimed at ramping up sanctions against the Islamic State group as

 finance ministers gather at the United Nations Security Council on December 17,

2015 (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Finance ministers from the UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously backed a resolution aimed at ramping up sanctions against the Islamic State group and cutting off its revenue flows.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew led the council's first-ever meeting of finance ministers, shoring up a major diplomatic push to end the war in Syria, where IS jihadists control a large swathe of territory and have installed their de facto capital.

Drafted by the United States and Syrian ally Russia, the measure will update an Al-Qaeda blacklist by renaming it the "ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda sanctions list" to signal the UN's focus on the IS extremists.

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.

It calls on governments to ensure they have adopted laws that make the financing of IS and of foreign fighters who join its ranks a serious criminal offense.

A Russian-drafted resolution on cutting off the extremists' revenue streams was adopted in February, but countries have been slow to take action to choke off funding channels.

"While we are making progress to financially isolate ISIL, if we are to succeed we all must intensify our efforts, on our own and together at the international level," said Lew.

The latest measure would require all countries to report within 120 days on steps taken to target IS financing.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be asked to prepare a sweeping report in 45 days on the IS threat and its revenue streams, focusing also on funding for foreign fighters.

A UN sanctions committee made up of the 15 Security Council member states can impose an assets freeze, travel ban and arms ban on individuals and entities linked to IS extremists.

About half of the Islamic State group's revenues come from extortion and looted
property, 43 percent from oil sales and the remainder from drug smuggling,
electricity sales and donations, according to IHS analysis firm (AFP Photo)

IS earning millions

According to the London-based IHS analysis firm, the Islamic State group is pulling in $80 million per month, but Russian and US coalition air strikes on oil facilities are putting a strain on its finances.

About half of IS revenues come from extortion and looted property, 43 percent from oil sales and the remainder from drug smuggling, electricity sales and donations, according to IHS.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin recalled that the gunmen behind the November 13 attacks in Paris resorted to online financial services to make anonymous payments and avoid detection by financial watchdogs.

"It is vital that information be better shared, as completely and rapidly as possible. Sometimes, a few hours can make the difference in preventing an attack," Sapin told the council.

"We must do everything in our power to choke off terrorism," he said.

British finance minister George Osborne called for widening the net, to "target the traders and middle men" involved in oil smuggling, which has generated $500 million to IS so far.

After the finance ministers' meeting on Thursday, the Security Council on Friday will bring together foreign ministers to adopt a separate resolution endorsing steps toward a political transition in Syria to end the nearly five-year war.

Related Articles:

2015 Kryon Kundalini Tour (Cusco #2, Peru) - Nov, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Paris/ISIS/Dark-Old Energy/USA+Warning for Governments around the World !!!) (Text version) New

"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. Do Not Despair

There's too much information to give you in one channelling, in one sitting, so I refer to past messages for you to better understand and reference the information in order to get the bigger picture. So I wish to remind you of something I also told you in a recent channelling called Do Not Despair. You're winning! It's because you're winning that the dark consciousness on this planet is feeling it, and the humanity that represents darkness is pulling out everything it has to survive.

It Has Always Been There

Let's look at it, because it's all over the news. Are you shocked at the sudden existence of the organization that will remain unnamed [for this channelling]? Where did it come from? How could it be so organized? How could it be so well funded? This organization could have its own country soon! They might as well name it, “The Old Energy Dark Country”, for that's what it will represent.

The barbaric past of humanity comes forward to show its face. It has always been there, hiding under the rocks and between the cracks of civilized humanity. It couldn't show itself until now, but now it has to. It's ugly and it's not for the faint at heart, is it, dear ones? Seeing evil personified in Human action is abhorrent. It is so ugly and so dark that you cannot look upon it with a gentle heart. God is not a part of it and this is obvious.

You're winning! Light is winning! The uprising of dark consciousness would not have shown itself with this strength, or this quickly, if this were not so. This is exactly what I told you to look for, and it is proof that those representing this dark consciousness are in trouble. Dear ones, dark consciousness has always had a tried-and-true system. It lurks in the shadows and influences all the power places of the planet - government, commerce, finance. Suddenly, it can't hide there as well anymore and it's out in the open.

Where is the funding coming from? It is coming from a storehouse that has always been there, dear ones. It uses income that has been generated from low consciousness acts, collected for a very long time. Funding didn't just appear. It has been stored, waiting to be used in order to spread fear and darkness to save what they believe is their way.

Who Will Win?

Dear ones, they haven't got a chance! But it looks like they do, doesn't it? Everything that they are doing is calculated to scare you into submission. Are they winning? Now, that's a question I want you to take from here and examine every day.

Fear is black. If you're in fear, there is no light. You can be the grandest Lightworker, or even be the channeller, but if you're in fear, it doesn't matter how many years you've done light work, or how much light you've accumulated personally. It all goes away with fear, and then they've won the battle for your mind. Do you understand this?

The Strength of the Old Soul - YOU

Old souls, Lightworkers reading this, the experiences you have had over lifetimes and lifetimes are incredible! The old soul knows fear. I don't want to be too graphic, but I want you to understand! What was it like when you put your head in the guillotine because you talked about God in a way that was inappropriate? What was it like to be bound hand and foot when they lit the match at your feet? Old soul, that's fear! You carry those experiences in your Akash.

I want to tell you they haven't got a chance to scare you! You absolutely know what fear is, and they haven't got a chance as long as you cling to that part of you that is the strength of God. You've been through it all. That means you've got the weapons of truth, wisdom and light. Don't forget it. Don't forget who you are!

Do you see how fast they assembled? It seemed like only yesterday that there was no organization at all. Where did they come from? Have you noticed a certain hesitancy to fight them? Why is it that the citizens of the lands that they are invading are hesitant to fight them? Instead, these leaders are calling on others to help. Why is it that the others are also hesitant? I want to show you that there are some anomalies of logic that are not making sense, because this is a battle you have never seen before on this planet. We've expected it, but you haven't. It's about consciousness, not land or resources.

How to Win?

We gave you the secret before of how to defeat them without taking even one life: Simply take away their funding. They cannot exist without their funding. The funding has to be organized, stored, and distributed. It has to be generated in such a way that it must also go through institutions. Did you hear that? All you have to do is stop the system. Winning won't be done with bombing. It's going to be done with intelligence, clever thinking and financial forensics. It's time to get smart on some of these things and not to be afraid to look at this puzzle differently than you have before. Do not apply the energy they are using in order to fight them, because you won't win. Figure it out. It's the last bastion of organized darkness and evil thinking on this planet coming together to try to survive the assault of your light. Don't be afraid to look at the funding trail, no matter where it takes you.

Fear is Their Weapon

I want you to know something as you look at your news. It may appear that you are unable to stop them. In many places, they will gain strength as they create fear. The fear is easily created in those who are not old souls and who don't know fear like you do and who don't have the armor of your spiritual experiences. This puts you in the front line, dear one. Did you realize that? But you don't have to go fight them on their terms. All you have to do is broadcast light. High consciousness will beat fear any day.. .”