U.N. strengthens sanctions on al Qaeda, Taliban
Countries that don't follow resolution will be named publicly
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The Security Council unanimously approved the new measure.
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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council voted Friday to strengthen enforcement of sanctions imposed on al Qaeda and the Taliban and to publicly name noncomplying countries.
The resolution, adopted unanimously, sets a March 31 deadline for members to turn over to a U.N. monitoring team a list of al Qaeda and Taliban associates in their countries, if they have not yet done so.
In an effort to increase member cooperation, those countries that do not turn over the list to the New York-based monitoring team will be announced publicly.
The new resolution also requires countries to enforce previous sanctions against the groups.
During the next year, the monitoring team will propose additional recommendations to the Security Council to improve enforcement of the resolution.
"This is a strong signal to countries to do what they have to do" to fight terrorism, said Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Muņoz, whose country co-sponsored the resolution with Russia and the United States.
Muņoz said the new measure would strengthen a 2002 Security Council resolution that imposed sanctions on the groups.
The 2002 resolution called on member states to identify al Qaeda and Taliban members, freeze their assets and enforce arms embargoes. However, a recent U.N. report showed less than half of its members complied.
The ruling Taliban in Afghanistan were toppled in late 2001, months after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The Taliban gave haven to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his terror training camps.
