Names added to Treasury Department blacklist include intelligence chief and senior military officer from Eritrea
The Obama administration is sanctioning six people, including Eritrea's external intelligence chief and a senior Eritrean military officer, for their roles in allegedly supporting the Somali group al-Shabab.
The Treasury Department announced the sanctions on Thursday under an executive order that allows the administration to impose punitive measures on individuals who threaten "peace, security or stability" in Somalia.
The sanctions freeze any assets the men may have in the US, and block Americans from doing business with them.
The six are accused of providing financial and logistical support to al-Shabab, an armed Islamist group which is blamed for numerous attacks against African Union peacekeepers in Somalia, as well as attacks in Uganda and Kenya.
"The United States is determined to target those who are responsible for the ongoing bloodshed and instability in Somalia," said Adam Szubin, the director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers the sanctions.
For more on this story;
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/07/20127603519912552.html
