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Israel deports U.S. citizen suspected of terror ties
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli authorities said Wednesday they had arrested a U.S. citizen on allegations he funneled money to terrorist groups linked to the al Qaeda network. The Israeli government said Kahaled Nazem Diyab, 34, had been deported. It did not say where he was sent.
Diyab was arrested last month when he arrived in Israel "under the suspicion that he was visiting the country to distribute funds to organizations identified with Palestinian terror in general and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in particular," according to a government statement issued after Diyab's arrest was reported in the Israeli media. In Washington, a U.S. State Department official identified Diyab as a naturalized American citizen who tried to enter Israel November 14. The official said that U.S. officials had consular access to Diyab and that he was deported to a third country November 26. The official added that Diyab was born in Syria. Diyab had spent the last few years working for charity organizations and had resided most recently in Qatar, the Israeli statement said. The statement said Diyab is believed to have been a member of the Al Najda organization in the United States, which was closed down under the suspicion that it passed contributions to terror organizations, possibly including al Qaeda. Diyab had lived in Afghanistan and was in close contact with groups linked to the former Taliban regime, the statement said, and "he is also known to have contact with organizations and activists connected to Hamas." The U.S. State Department has designated Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group, as a terrorist organization. CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.
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