Travel Ban for "Hezbollah Diamond Smuggler"
September 04, 24
(IDEX Online) - An art dealer accused of smuggling blood diamonds and works of art to finance the Hezbollah terror group has been banned from travelling to the UK.
Nazem Ahmad was sanctioned last August by the US, which described him as a "diamond smuggler and art collector [who] dealt in millions of dollars of goods and services in violation of the global terrorism sanctions regulations".
He was also sanctioned by the UK this April over alleged financial support for Gaza Now, a UK group accused of promoting the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
Ahmad and another man, Mustafa Ayash, were subjected last Thursday (29 August) to the first UK travel ban under the government's new Domestic Counter Terrorism Sanctions Regime, which targets non-UK nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism.
In February police seized paintings valued at $1.3m by Picasso, Andy Warhol and others from a warehouse in London linked to Ahmad. They said they would probably have been sold to fund Hezbollah.
The US State Department is offering a reward of up to $10m for information on Ahmad, who it describes as "a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer and significant financier of the Hezbollah terrorist organization".
Pic courtesy US Treasury Department.