Overview

Abdallah Ghanim Mafuz Muslim al-Khawar is a U.S.-designated al-Qaeda facilitator and financier based in Qatar.“Treasury Targets Key Al-Qa’ida Funding and Support Network Using Iran as a Critical Transit Point,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 28, 2011, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1261.aspx. According to a 2011 statement by the U.S. Treasury Department, Khawar’s network “serves as the core pipeline through which al-Qa’ida moves money, facilitators and operatives from across the Middle East to South Asia.”“Treasury Targets Key Al-Qa’ida Funding and Support Network Using Iran as a Critical Transit Point,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 28, 2011, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1261.aspx. Khawar has worked with U.S.-designated al-Qaeda financier Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari to deliver money, messages, and other material support to al-Qaeda leaders in Iran. Khawar has also facilitated the travel of al-Qaeda recruits to Afghanistan to partake in terrorist activities.“Treasury Targets Key Al-Qa’ida Funding and Support Network Using Iran as a Critical Transit Point,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 28, 2011, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1261.aspx.

Despite several run-ins with Qatari, UAE, and Saudi law enforcement between 2009 and 2011, Khawar is believed to operate freely in Qatar. Khwar was last known to work with the al-Qaeda network headed by Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, an Iranian-based al-Qaeda facilitator who operates under an agreement between al-Qaeda and the Iranian government.“Treasury Targets Key Al-Qa’ida Funding and Support Network Using Iran as a Critical Transit Point,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, July 28, 2011, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1261.aspx. According to Qatar’s Ministry of the Interior website, Khawar still had an active Qatari passport and ID card as of December 2014.David Andrew Weinberg, “Qatar and Terror Finance,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, December 2014, https://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/publications/Qatar_Part_I.pdf.

On June 8, 2017, the governments of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain designated Khawar as a terrorist alongside 58 other individuals and 12 organizations. The designation was based on Khawar’s participation in “funding, communication, and other support to al-Qaida elements in Iran,” as well as his efforts to “facilitate the travel of al-Qaida members traveling to Afghanistan.”“Qatar-Linked People, Groups on Terror List,” Gulf News, June 9, 2017, https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/qatar/qatar-linked-people-groups-on-terror-list-1.2040686#.