The U.S. Treasury on Thursday sanctioned five individuals it said were part of an al Qaeda finance network in Turkey.
The three Turkish and two Egyptian citizens had “provided a range of financial and travel facilitation services” to the terrorist organisation, the U.S. Treasury said.
They include Egyptian-born Majdi Salim, described by U.S. officials as “one of the primary facilitators of a range of al Qaeda activities in Turkey, including acting as a financial courier within the al Qaeda network”.
His compatriot, Muhammad Nasr al-Din al-Ghazlani, supported the group with transfers of cash, “including providing money to the families of imprisoned al Qaeda members,” according to the U.S. Treasury.
Meanwhile, Turkish citizen Nurettin Muslihan is accused of contact with al Qaeda’s senior leadership in Syria, seeking to directly communicate with now-deceased leader Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abd al-Rahman, also known as Abu Khayr al-Masri.
The U.S. treasury said Muslihan was supported by fellow Turkish citizen Cebrail Güzel “to facilitate the network’s relationship” with al-Rahman.
A third Turkish national, Sonar Gürleyen, was identified as an “al-Qaeda extremist and financial facilitator”. He is charged with having “provided another al Qaeda violent extremist with assistance in preparation for the latter’s travel”.
“These targeted sanctions highlight the United States’ unwavering commitment to sever financial support to al Qaeda,” said Director of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea M. Gacki. “We will continue working with our foreign partners, including Turkey, to expose and disrupt al Qaeda’s financial support networks.”
Ahval