An investigation dossier on suspected al-Qaeda regional leader Malek Charahil, who was arrested in the southern Turkish city of Hatay, has been completed. Adana public prosecutor Ayhan Unal stated in the summary of the Tunisian suspectÂ’s cross examination that he had established financial links between Europe and Iraq. The prosecutor noted that Belgian-origin Bilal Soughir was regularly sending large sums of money to accounts opened in various banks in Malek CharahiliÂ’s name, who in return was transferring these sums to the late Iraqi Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-ZarqawiÂ’s account. Caught by the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT) and Turkish police in a joint effort in August 2006, Malek, who is Tunisian and 27, denied any ties to Al-Qaeda in his first interrogation. Charahili is still in custody and has been accused of being a member of a terrorist organization, acting in the name of that organization and carrying a fake passport.
The prosecutor opened proceedings in the Sixth High Criminal Court of Adana, and prepared the summary, which is considered a preliminary step for charges. It is written in the summary that Charahili came to Hatay in April 2006. |