'Lady Al Qaeda' on trial in Jeddah
Haila Al-Qusayyer, 47, is accused of recruiting people, procuring funds, transporting weapons and explosives, providing false documents, illegal emigration and helping evasion. She was married to two militants of the terrorist group.
Riyadh (AsiaNews) – The closed door trial of Haila al-Qusayyer, nicknamed "Lady Al Qaeda" for her role in the organization, has started in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The woman, 47, is accused of recruiting people, having procured funding, transported weapons and explosives, provided false documents, illegal emigration and helped evasion.
Al-Qusayyer’s affiliation to the terrorist organization, as claimed by the Saudi security, began on her marriage with Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi, who was killed in 2004 in a clash with police in Taif. She later married Saeed al-Shehri, a former prisoner at Guantanamo.
The most important task of the terrorist was to raise money: Saudi sources say that behind the smokescreen of the construction of a mosque and aid for orphans she was able to raise 650 thousand U.S. dollars for terrorists. Among other allegations, she is charged with having procured shelter to more than 60 persons accused of terrorism and of having played an important role in the escape of another terrorist, Wafa Al-Shehrim, to Yemen.
The capture of Al-Qusayyer by Saudis security forces provoked a series of attacks and kidnappings by the number two of al-Qaeda in Yemen, who has called for her release.
Al-Qusayyer is not the only Saudi woman accused of terrorism, but the first one to have played a leading role within the organization. So far, in fact, it was wives who accompanied their husbands, at most providing logistical support. The first was the wife of the head of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Saleh al-Oufi, who was killed in 2005.
The woman, 47, is accused of recruiting people, having procured funding, transported weapons and explosives, provided false documents, illegal emigration and helped evasion.
Al-Qusayyer’s affiliation to the terrorist organization, as claimed by the Saudi security, began on her marriage with Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi, who was killed in 2004 in a clash with police in Taif. She later married Saeed al-Shehri, a former prisoner at Guantanamo.
The most important task of the terrorist was to raise money: Saudi sources say that behind the smokescreen of the construction of a mosque and aid for orphans she was able to raise 650 thousand U.S. dollars for terrorists. Among other allegations, she is charged with having procured shelter to more than 60 persons accused of terrorism and of having played an important role in the escape of another terrorist, Wafa Al-Shehrim, to Yemen.
The capture of Al-Qusayyer by Saudis security forces provoked a series of attacks and kidnappings by the number two of al-Qaeda in Yemen, who has called for her release.
Al-Qusayyer is not the only Saudi woman accused of terrorism, but the first one to have played a leading role within the organization. So far, in fact, it was wives who accompanied their husbands, at most providing logistical support. The first was the wife of the head of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Saleh al-Oufi, who was killed in 2005.
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