Australian Gem Trader "Helped Finance al-Qaeda"

(IDEX Online) - The US government has imposed sanctions on an Australian gemstone trader over his alleged links to al-Qaeda, the terror group behind the 9/11 attacks that claimed almost 3,000 lives. 

It says Ahmed Luqman Talib, 30, from Melbourne, acted as a "financial facilitator", moving money round the world to fund terrorist activity.

Police raided his home yesterday (20 October) in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster, according to a report in Australia's Jeweller magazine.

"Terrorist groups such as al-Qa'ida use financial facilitators to move money around the world to help carry out terrorist activity," said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in a statement.

"The Treasury Department remains committed to disrupting al-Qa'ida's financial activities and networks around the world and appreciates the collaboration with our Australian partners." 

It says he "materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, al-Qa'ida." 

Mr Talib was shot in the leg by Israeli commandos in 2010 during violent clashes on a ship trying to break an Israeli and Egyptian naval blockade of Gaza. 

As a dealer in precious gems, Mr Talib, a director of Talib & Sons, has conducted business in Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey, the Gulf, and elsewhere, and was able to move funds internationally for the benefit of al-Qaeda, OFAC said.

The sanctions freezes any assets he may holds in the United States and prohibit American companies or individuals from doing business with him.