Australian on Mavi Marmara charged with aiding Syrian terrorist
'A decade after the Mavi Marmara incident, Talib and the Melbourne-based gemstone company he owns were designated by the US Treasury for providing material assistance to al-Qaeda.”
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALTurkish ship Mavi Marmara, carrying pro-Palestinian activists to take part of a humanitarian convoy, leaves from Sarayburnu port in Istanbul, Turkey May 22, 2010. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Counterterrorism agents in Australia arrested Ahmed Luqman Talib, an alleged jihadi facilitator who was on board the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara in 2010, in late March for reportedly aiding a Syrian terrorist.Talib “was accused of helping a terrorist arrange to travel to Syria to fight against government forces in 2013,” according to a report in the Brisbane Times.According to The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), Talib, his wife and sister “were the only Australians on board” the Mavi Marmara – a Turkish vessel operated by the Islamic organization IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.The IHH caused international violence on the high seas when it sought to break Israel’s legal naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in 2010. The IHH has links to the US and EU-designated terrorist organization Hamas.Talib is alleged to have provided support to Jabhat al-Nusra (also known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham) – the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, an entity proscribed as a terrorist organization by the Australian government.The website of the governmental Australian National Security wrote that “Jabhat Fatah al-Sham adheres to a violent extremist ideology that is anti-Western, and encourages violence as a key element of pursuing its goals. The group ultimately aims to overthrow the Syrian regime and create a Salafist-oriented Islamist state in Syria under its own rule.”The Brisbane Times reported that prosecutor Clare O’Connor said Talib allegedly provided “information and advice for the safe passage of witness 1 into Syria”.“Witness 1 provided direct evidence of the applicant meeting him and introducing him to another person who could help with travel to Syria,” O’Connor said.The counterterrorism spanned a number of years, and included an “analysis of movements and communications” among the parties involved in the plot, reported the paper.“The applicant took steps to conceal his behavior, he has previously used an encrypted mobile device,” said O’Connor.
She added, “The applicant at the very least, it is alleged, has associated with other persons who have promoted terrorism and they include the co-offender Mr. Crazzi.”O’Connor cited a US Treasury media release on October that termed Talib as an “Australia-based al-Qaeda-associated facilitator” who “provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, al-Qaeda”.Former US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said, “Talib has had financial dealings in a number of countries and is involved in dealing gemstones, which provide him with the ability to move funds internationally for the benefit of al-Qa’ida [al-Qaeda]. Talib conducts business around the world, including in Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey and the Gulf.”Talib’s jihadi activity caused a stir in 2010. Radical Islamists on board of the Mavi Marmara resisted Israeli commandos who intercepted the vessel. Passengers used knives, clubs and axes against the Israeli soldiers, resulting in the death of nine passengers and nine injured Israeli commandoes.AIJAC wrote on its website that ”Upon their return to Australia, Talib and his sister undertook a speaking tour where they condemned Israel and the IDF in the strongest terms, calling the response a ‘slaughter.’”Talib’s sister, Maryam Luqman Talib, said of her brother’s alleged injuries aboard the Mavi Marmara: “I think it is important to know this, so that people understand the true nature of the Zionist regime. These people are not human! There is no humanity in them!”She added that “If they really think we are terrorists, I have a message to them: I am proud to put terror in the heart of the Zionist regime.”AIJAC noted in its report: “A decade after the Mavi Marmara incident, Talib and the Melbourne-based gemstone company he owns was designated by the US Treasury for providing material assistance to al-Qaeda.”
