T&T National Shane Dominic Crawford is among those sanctioned by the United States for alleged ISIS involvement.
The Department of State yesterday posted that Crawford and other foreigners identified as El Shafee Elsheikh, Anjem Choudary, Sami Bouras and Mark John Taylor were currently believed to be foreign terrorist fighters in Syria carrying out terrorist activity on behalf of ISIS, including acting as an English language propagandist for the group.
Crawford, also known as Asadullah, Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi, Shane Asadullah Crawford and Asad, is listed with several others as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs)” under Section 1(b) of the United States’ Executive Order 13224, which has imposed sanctions on foreigners “determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.”
The Department of State also said that as a consequence US nationals were generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Taylor and the others who are identified as all of their property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction was frozen.
Today’s (yesterday’s) action notifies the US public and the international community that Elsheikh, Choudary, Bouras, Crawford, and Taylor have committed or pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism. Designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist or complement the law enforcement actions of other US agencies and other governments. In an interview with the T&T Guardian in February this year, Crawford’s mother, Joan, had said she was unsure whether her son was still alive. “I used to hear regularly from him, but this is the longest I haven’t heard. My belief though is if anything happens it’s by Allah’s hand,” Crawford said last Friday.“Allah loaned me my children for a certain time. When he’s ready to take them, he will. They’re his—whatever comes, I’m prepared,” she had said.
Crawford, who had a record of alleged crime, left for Syria not long after being detained in the 2011 state of emergency, among 15 involved in an alleged plot to assassinate former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. No charges were laid.
