Four British jihadists face UN sanctions

Left to right: Omar Hussain, Aqsa Mahmood, Nasser Muthana and Sally Jones — Image captionThe activities of (clockwise from top left) Omar Hussain, Aqsa Mahmood, Nasser Muthana and Sally Jones have been widely reported in the media since they travelled to Syria

The UN has imposed sanctions on four high-profile British jihadists said to be fighting or recruiting for Islamic State militants in Syria.

The UK government, which requested the move, named the four as Omar Hussain from High Wycombe, Nasser Muthana from Cardiff, Aqsa Mahmood from Glasgow and Sally Jones from Chatham, in Kent.

They will face a travel ban and a freeze of their assets.

The move is a new tactic to stem the flow of recruits to the IS group.

At least 700 Britons have travelled to support or fight for jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, according to British police. About half have since returned to the UK.

A government official said it was the first time in 10 years that Britain had submitted names to the UN's sanctions list and the move was intended to send out a deterrent message.

One name submitted to the sanctions committee is still to be approved.

More are expected to be put forward.

Photo released in May 2015, by a militant website, showing Islamic State militants pass by a convoy in northern Syria — Image captionThe Islamic State militant group has taken control of large areas of Iraq and Syria

Dossiers of evidence were submitted to show the Britons were "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities" related to IS.

Uploading bomb-making instructions to social media was among the activities.

The UN sanctions regime was set up to tackle suspected al-Qaeda terrorism and was extended to IS.

The government official said: "We will absolutely go after people who fight for ISIL and are threatening our country."

The four named by the government have been widely reported by the British media for their alleged activities with the IS group.

Aqsa Mahmood has been accused of recruiting three London schoolgirls to join the IS group - something her parents have denied.
Nasser Muthana is accused of appearing in videos showing beheadings,although his father said it was not him.
Sally Jones - reportedly a former rock musician - has been dubbed the "punk jihadi" by the tabloid newspapers and is accused of recruiting for the group.
Omar Hussain, a former supermarket security guard, has appeared in a propaganda video and was interviewed on Newsnight.

The announcement comes as the prime minister joins other world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The government is also to spend an extra £10m on a new unit to counter propaganda from IS militants and is establishing a new committee of senior ministers to focus on the threat from the group.

A British official said Prime Minister David Cameron believes "we can and must do more to win the battle for hearts and minds".

The new unit will be based in London but with links across the Arab world to try to counter the extremist message.

Three British nationals were already among the 231 individuals and 72 organisations on the UN list.