The Security Council's Taliban-al Qaeda sanctions committee, which was established in 1999 by the resolution 1267, began reviewing each of the 488 individuals and entities on the list two years ago amid criticism that some of those under sanctions were either dead or should never have been listed.

The result of the review was the decision to delete nearly 10 percent of the individuals and entities facing a global asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, said the committee's chairman, Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting.

Of those removed from the list, 10 were Taliban militants and 35 related to al Qaeda -- 14 individuals and 21 firms, foundations and other organizations.

Afghanistan had pressed the sanctions committee to remove some Taliban names from the blacklist to create an incentive for insurgents to join the government.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai sought the delisting of some 20 Taliban, because they had either joined the government side or were dead.

Of the 20 Taliban Karzai wanted delisted, five were removed in January and another five last week.