was, according to the UN Security Council, the head of finance for the Iraqi secret services under the regime of Sadam Hussein. The second applicant in the decision was a corporation, Montana Management Inc, Mr Al-Dulimi being its managing director.

After Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions for UN member States and non-member States to apply a general embargo against Iraq. The Swiss Federal Council as a result adopted an ordinance providing for economic measures against the Republic of Iraq. The applicants alleged that since then their assets in Switzerland had remained frozen.

After 1990, there were several amendments made to the Iraq ordinance. Further, the Security Council created a Sanctions Committee tasked with listing individuals whose assets should be frozen as a resultof the resolution. In 2004, the Sanctions Committee added both applicants to the list. As a result, the applicants’ names were added to Switzerland’s list of the Iraq ordinance. At a similar time, the Federal Council also adopted an ordinance on the confiscation of frozen Iraqi assets and economic resources and their transfer to the Development Fund for Iraq.

The decision of the Federal Department for Economic Affairs The applicants attempted to remove their names from the sanctions list, calling upon the Federal Department for Economic Affairs in Switzerland to suspend the confiscation procedure in respect of their assets. The Federal Department for Economic Affairs sent the applicants draft decisions on the confiscation and transfer of the funds that were deposited in their names in Geneva. Despite the applicants