U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 - Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan and the United States have a very good record of cooperation on counterterrorism issues that predates the September 11, 2001, attacks. With the 2004 ratification of the Convention on Offenses and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, Azerbaijan has acceded to all 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. While Azerbaijan has served as a route for international mujahedin with ties to terrorist organizations seeking to move men, money, and materiel throughout the Caucasus, the Azeri Government has stepped up its efforts and succeeded in reducing their presence and hampering their activities. Azerbaijan has taken steps to combat terrorist financing and identify possible terrorist-related funding by distributing lists of suspected terrorist groups and individuals to local banks. An experts group, led by the National Bank of Azerbaijan, has prepared draft anti-money laundering legislation that would establish a financial intelligence unit (FIU) and expand the predicate crimes for money laundering beyond narcotics trafficking.

In 2004, the Government continued to make significant arrests of individuals associated with terrorist groups. Members of Jayshullah, an indigenous terrorist group, who were arrested in 2000 and tried in 2001 for plotting to attack the US Embassy in Baku, remain in prison.