The US Treasury on December 19, pursuant to Executive Order 13224, designated a British citizen as a supporter of terrorism. Adam Szubin, director of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, stated: "Mohammed Al Ghabra has backed al Qaida and other violent jihadist groups, facilitating travel for recruits seeking to meet with al Qaida leaders and take part in terrorist training. We must act against those who fund and facilitate al Qaida's agenda of violence against innocents." The Sunday Times reports that Britain has agreed with the US and the assets of Mohammed Al Ghabra are now frozen by the UK Treasury, the Bank of England. Ghabra admits to being an active member of the Muslim Prisoner Support Group. This is an organization which campaigns for the rights of Muslims who are imprisoned as suspected terrorists. Mohammed Al Ghabra lives in Forest Gate, east London. He is a supporter of George Galloway's "Respect" party. He has spoken to the Sunday Times at his home, and denies the claims. He said: "If I am the moneymaker and this is why they have decided to put the sanctions against me, how could I have so many financial problems myself?"
Ghabra, born in Syria, is a known associate of Haroon Rashid Aswat. This individual, from Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, met Ghabra in a religious school in Lahore, Pakistan. Aswat is wanted on an extradition order by the United States, for his involvement with Abu Hamza and James Ujaama to set up an Al Qaeda training camp at Dog Cry Ranch in Bly, Oregon. Aswat was arrested in Zambia shortly after the 7/7 bombings, originally suspected of involvement in the London Transport attacks as an organizer. Aswat is in custody, and he was a member of Al-Muhajiroun.
26-year old Ghabra claims he was "shocked" to see Aswat's picture on TV after he was arrested. According to the US Treasury designation press release, Ghabra has organized travel for individuals going to Pakistan to meet AL Qaeda members to become involved in jihad training. The report sates: "Additionally, Al Ghabra has provided material support and facilitated the travel of UK-based individuals to Iraq to support the insurgents fight against coalition forces. In addition, Al Ghabra has also provided material and logistical support to other terrorist organizations based in Pakistan, such as Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI)."
HUJI is a Kashmiri separatist group and terrorist organization. Ghabra is said by the US to be an associate of Faraj Al-Libi, a Libyan citizen who was arrested in May 2005 near Peshawar in Pakistan by Pakistan's intelligence and security agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence). Al-Libi is a suspect in two attempts upon the life of Pakistan's President Musharraf. The group Al-Muhajiroun (to which Aswat belonged) is also implicated in these plots. Libi was an associate of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man who is said to have planned 9/11. Following Mohammed's arrest on March 1, 2003, Faraj al-Libi is believed to have been elevated to Al-Qaeda's "number three in command".
39-year old Libi has lived in the UK, in Manchester. He is also linked to the two embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998. According to the US Treasury, Mohammed al-Ghabra stayed at Al-Libi's home in Pakistan. Ghabra was also associated with Harakat Ul-Mujahideen, the group which is said to have provided jihadist training to two of the 7/7 bombers, Shehzad Tanweer and Mohamed Sidique Khan. Apparently Al Ghabra wanted to become a jihadist in Kashmir, but was advised against this by Harakat ul-Mujahideen as they needed people based in the UK to raise funds for them.
In December, Al Ghabra's home, a two storey maisonette which Ghabra shares with his mother and sister, was raided by agents of Scotland Yard's counterrorism unit. The search warrant stated that the detectives were seeking "explosives, precursor chemicals, weapons, component parts of weapons or improvised explosive devices." He also received a letter last month stating: "The Treasury has reasonable grounds for suspecting that you are, or may be, a person who facilitates the commission of acts of terrorism."