EU lifts asset freeze on three Al-Qaida-linked figures in 364th amendment

The European Commission has deleted three entries from the EU’s asset-freeze list for persons and entities linked to ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, and has amended the identifying data of three other listed individuals. The change is made by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2490 of 3 November 2026, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, OJ L 2026/2490, on 4 November 2026 (CELEX 32026R2490).

The implementing regulation is the 364th amendment to Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 of 27 May 2002, the instrument that transposes into EU law the United Nations sanctions regime against ISIL and Al-Qaida. The Commission acted under Article 7(1), point (a), and Article 7a(5) of that regulation, which empower it to update Annex I — the list of persons, groups and entities subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources — so that it matches the decisions of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee.

Two UN decisions triggered the change. On 24 October 2026, the Sanctions Committee, acting under Resolutions 1267(1999), 1989(2011) and 2253(2015), removed three entries from its list; on 26 October 2026 it amended the identifying data for three entries. The regulation enters into force on the day following its publication, on 5 November 2026, and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Three deletions from Annex I

The following entries, all under the heading “Natural persons”, are deleted from Annex I:

• Shafi Sultan Mohammed Sultan Al-Ajmi, born 1 January 1973 in Warah, Kuwait, Kuwaiti national, designated on 23 September 2014 and described in the list as a fundraiser for Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant.
• Bassam Ahmad Al-Hasri, born 1 January 1969 (or approximately 1971), born in Qalamun, Damascus Province, Syria, of Syrian and Palestinian nationality, designated on 22 February 2017.
• Iyad Nazmi Salih Khalil, born in 1974 in Syria, Jordanian national, designated on 22 February 2017.

Corrected data for three listed persons

The Annex also replaces the identifying data of three individuals who remain on the list:

• Emilie Edwige Konig, born 9 December 1984 in Ploemeur, France, French national; her address is now recorded as France (in detention) instead of Syria, and the entry notes that she is currently detained in France.
• Oumar Diaby, born 5 August 1975 in Dakar, Senegal, Senegalese national; his address is now recorded as the Syrian Arab Republic (located in).
• Peter Cherif, born 26 August 1982 in Paris, French national; a good quality alias, Abou Hamza, is added, his address changes from Al Mukalla, Yemen, to France (in custody), and the entry records that he was sentenced to life imprisonment by a French court on 3 October 2024.

Effect on frozen funds

Deletion from Annex I means the three removed persons and entities no longer appear among those covered by the freezing of funds and economic resources imposed by Regulation (EC) No 881/2002. The unblocking is a direct consequence of the UN delisting and takes effect across the EU from 5 November 2026, without any need for national transposition. The data corrections do not lift the freeze: the three individuals concerned stay on the list with updated identifiers.

The measure is one of a long series of technical updates that align the EU list with the UN consolidated list; the regulation is signed in Brussels on 3 November 2026 on behalf of the Commission by the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.

Why it matters

For banks, payment providers and companies applying EU sanctions screening, the amendments redefine who is covered by the asset freeze as of 5 November 2026: three names must come off internal watchlists and their funds released, while three existing entries must be updated to avoid mismatches and false positives. Any person or entity that remains on Annex I stays subject to the freeze, and the official text of the amended entries is the reference to be applied.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, OJ L 2026/2490, 4 November 2026, p. 1/3 (official reference: CELEX 32026R2490).