WASHINGTON, December 2 – RIA Novosti. The US State Department said on Friday that the US has listed the Wagner Group as a religious freedom concern because of its activities in the OAC.

In addition to the Russian Wagner, the list of “special interest organizations” for their “activities in the Central African Republic” includes the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram, the Houthis group, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham *, a number of IS units * (“Islam state” terrorist organization*), the Taliban movement**.

According to the decision taken by the US State Department, Iran, China, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Eritrea and Russia are on the list of countries concerned about compliance with the US Religious Freedom Act.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the administration of US President Joe Biden is investigating the possibility of declaring the Wagner Group a terrorist organization. A final decision on this matter has not yet been made. But if Wagner is on the terrorist organization list, Washington will be able to prosecute the group and its members. Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said that the “Wagner Group” does not meet any of the criteria for a terrorist organization, but the activities of the USA comply with them.

* Terrorist group banned in Russia

** The organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.