State Dept. Maintains FTO Designation for Al-Shabaab

The State Department is maintaining al-Shabaab's designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the agency said in a notice dated May 2 and published in the Federal Register this week. It said the “circumstances that were the basis for the designation of al-Shabaab” as an FTO “have not changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation of the designation.” The U.S. has for years imposed sanctions on Somalia-based al-Shabaab and people linked to the group, including financial facilitators and weapons smugglers (see 2210170069, 2405230025 and 2305240037).