(AFP) Spanish police said Thursday they had dismantled a ring suspected of financing Al-Qaeda and arrested three men, including the top representative of Spain’s Muslim community.
Those detained were suspected of having “exploited an NGO to finance the activities of terrorist fighters,” a National Police statement said.
The organisation is believed to have collected donations for orphaned children in Syria, but “a part” of the funds went instead to areas of Syria “controlled by Al-Qaeda militias with the aim of supporting their fighters,” it added.
“Another part of the proceeds was destined to defray the expenses of a school centre for orphaned children located in a conflict zone, whose activities were focused on the training of future mujahideen.”
