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The UN Security Council in New York on Thursday adopted a resolution aimed at choking off millions of dollars in earnings from oil sales, antiquities trafficking and ransom payments to ISIS.
A report by the UN’s al-Qaeda monitoring team released in November estimated that the jihadists earn $850 000 to $1.65m per day from oil sales.
The resolution comes before the council after President Barack Obama asked Congress to grant him war powers against ISIS and after Jordan stepped up its role in the US-led coalition in response to the gruesome murder of one of its pilots at the hands of the jihadists.
According to AFP, the resolution was to sanction any individuals and entities that are trading in oil with ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates such as the al-Nusra Front in Syria.
The measure is also to urge all 193 countries of the United Nations to take desist from trading in cultural property from Iraq and Syria and as well directs the UN cultural agency UNESCO to help place a ban.
The resolution is also to remind governments worldwide that they must “prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or political concessions” to secure the release of hostages.
The resolution would put fresh pressure on Turkey, seen as a transit point for oil deliveries, with trucks often returning to Iraq or Syria with refined products.