Born in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, Mohammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi ( ar, محمد غالب كلاج زوايدي) became a Spanish accountant while living between

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. In Saudi Arabia he was known as ''accountant for the al-Faisal branch of the Saudi royal family'', which included Prince Turki al-Faisal. In Spain, he is accused of transferring funds totaling nearly a million dollars from several corporations he was involved with that accepted donations, to

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

members, including Mamoun Darkazanli and

Nabil Sayadi Nabil Sayadi was the director and founder of the European branch of Global Relief Foundation, centred in Belgium. Sayadi was born in Lebanon. He is accused that he transferred 200,000 Euros to Al-Qaeda financier Mohammed Zouaydi, which caused him t ...

. He was arrested by Spanish authorities on April 23, 2002. He was described as "Al Qaeda's financier" by The Wall Street Journal. Mohammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi's brother-in-law, Abu-Khalid al-Suri, was Al-Qaeda's representative in Syria and received funding from the Qatar-based terrorist

Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi or Abderrahman Al Nuaimi (born 1954) is a Qatari human rights advocate and co-founder of the Alkarama human rights NGO. He previously taught Islamic Studies at Qatar University, and once served as president of the Qatar Fo ...

, cofounder of

Alkarama Alkarama ( ar, الكرامة لحقوق الإنسان / ISO 233: / Dignity) is an independent Swiss-based human rights non-governmental organization established in 2004 to assist all those in the Arab World subjected to, or at risk of, extrajud ...

2019 arrest for terrorism financing

On 19 June 2019, Mohammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi was arrested by Spanish police as part of "Operation Wamor", which involved 350 police officers across Spain and Europol anti-terrorism agents. Those arrested were described by Europol as "part of a huge international clandestine structure, with the aim of attacking the Western economic system as a form of terrorism". He was arrested alongside several members of the Kutayni family, who created a web of companies to fund Al-Qaeda operations in Syria. According to the Spanish newspaper

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, he acted as the "financial director" of the terrorist network, which was the largest ever uncovered in Spain.

Links with the Muslim Brotherhood

Fares Kutayni, who was arrested with Mohammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi, is a representative of the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain, which is related to the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

. According to Spanish media, the Kutayni clan is also related to Riay Tatary Bakry, President of the Islamic Commission of Spain, who is "considered to be ideologically linked to the Muslim Brotherhood".

References

Spanish businesspeople Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Spain-business-bio-stub