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Spaniard denies funding jihad
11/05/2005 20:02 - (SA)
Mar Roman
Madrid - A Syrian-born Spaniard, alleged to be the financial mastermind of an al-Qaeda cell that helped plot the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, said on Wednesday, he had never given "a single peseta" toward a jihad, or holy war.
Continuing his testimony at the trial of 24 terror suspects in Madrid - Europe's biggest court case against radical groups with alleged ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network - Mohamed Ghaleb Kalaje Zouaydi also denied he was ever a member of any Islamic group or engaged in recruiting young people to send as fighters to countries like Afghanistan.
Zouaydi said: "I am not and have never been a member of a group of any ideology or political nature, not even a sports group."
He said: "I chose Islam as a way to adore God, nothing else."
'Zouaydi runs real estate, construction firms'
During the trial, Zouaydi had admitted that he donated large sums of money to Muslims, but always out of charity.
Responding to a question from his lawyer as to whether he had ever sent money as part of a holy war, he replied: "Never, not even a peseta (Spain's former currency)."
Zouaydi, who ran real estate and construction firms, was accused of using his business dealings as a front for financing a Spanish al-Qaeda cell and funnelling money to Muslim extremists in other countries.
These included Germany, another alleged staging ground for the suicide airliner attacks of 2001 in the US.
'Imad is a polite person'
Zouaydi also told the court that he knew the alleged leader of the Spanish al-Qaeda cell, Imad Yarkas, from daily contact and from a business deal, but he didn't agree with some of his radical point of views.
Zouaydi said: "Imad is a polite person, a friend of his friends and a good person."
Three of the 24 suspects, including Yarkas, were accused of using Spain as a staging ground to help plan the September 11 attacks.
Zouaydi was among the other 21 who faced charges of terrorism, weapons possession or other offences, but not September 11 planning.
The trial, which began on April 22, was to start later on Wednesday with testimony from Syrian Bassam Dalati who was an associate of Zouaydi.
- SAPA
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