The US government has included a Brazilian network of individuals and companies allegedly linked to al Qaeda on the Treasury Department's list of terrorism, the US embassy reported on Wednesday (22).
Haytham Ahmad Shukri Ahmad Al-Maghrabi, 35, Egyptian-born Brazilian, Mohamed Sherif Mohamed Awadd, 48, and Ahmad Al-Khatib, 52, will have assets and accounts in the US frozen. Two companies belonging to Awadd and Al-Khatib are also subject to sanctions.
The three are said to have "materially assisted, sponsored or provided financial or technological support, in addition to goods or services, to help al Qaeda [terrorist faction]," according to the US government.
According to American authorities, Al-Maghrabi, who arrived in Brazil in 2015, was one of the first members of one of the al Qaeda networks in the country. Awadd, in turn, arrived in Brazil in 2018 and reportedly received bank transfers from other al Qaeda associates.
Khatib, who is a Muslim sheikh, has been in Brazil for 32 years and presides over the NGO Associação Livro Aberto (Islamic Nucleus), which welcomesSyrian refugees. He denied any involvement with al Qaeda to Folha. "Al Qaeda doesn't even exist in Brazil, these people from the US have a Hollywood imagination," he said.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon