UN Arms Embargo on Al-Qaeda and associated individuals and entities

In January 2002 UN Security Council Resolution 1390 (PDF) imposed an open-ended arms embargo to apply to any sale or supplies to either the Taliban or to the Al-Qaeda organization regardless of location (see Afghanistan arms embargo). It also terminated the air embargo of resolution 1267 (1999), expanded the financial embargo of resolution 1267 (1999) to apply also to associates of Usama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda members and re-appointed the monitoring group established by resolution 1363 (2000).

The implementation of an arms embargo against a non-state entity regardless of location raises different implementation challenges compared with an arms embargo that is tied to a particular state or territory. The Security Council Committee Established Pursuant to Resolution 1267 (1999) produced an Explanation of Terms: Arms Embargo (PDF) to clarify some of the issues raised by resolution 1390 (2002).

In June 2011 UN Security Council split the embargo into separate arms embargoes, one on the Taliban (UN Security Council Resolution 1988) and one on Al-Qaeda and associated individuals and entities (UN Security Council Resolution 1989).