A vast illegal money transfer network between Europe, West Africa and the Middle East has been uncovered by one of the western intelligence agencies as part of the fight against terrorist financing, revealed the German television channel Welt.
Closely linked to the Polisario and in contact with the Algerian armythis network is particularly active in transfers to the Polisario camps in Tindouf, but also in other West African countries.
This system works on the ancient Islamic model of money transfer called “Hawala”, except that it does not allow any financial monitoring. By carrying out transfers without name and without traceability, it becomes a tool favored by mafia gangs, but also terrorist networks.
Fears of terrorist financing
Hezbollah in Lebanon is suspected of using it, according to initial investigations. There are fears that Iran could use it for influence in the region, but also for terrorist purposesgiven that it is “the largest state sponsor of terrorist groups in the world”, according to the German media.
The latter also recalls the Hezbollah and Iran’s support for the Polisario militias and their desire to destabilize the region, stating that “unstable and poor regions are ideal for Iran to rally local militias to its fight against the West”. Morocco is now in the sights of Iran after the normalization of relations with Israel, adds the media.
Iran tends to use this type of network to exert its influence on the region, in particular because of the international sanctions which deprive it of access to the international financial system. It is also a privileged means for Hezbollah which is confronted with the collapse of the banking system in Lebanon.
The fight against terrorism involves the fight against financing networks. The intelligence agencies of Western countries who fear that their nationals will be targeted in the Sahel and West Africa take such cases very seriously.
The file to which Welt was able to have access was transmitted to the finance department of the Spanish Guardia Civil, because it is in Spain that Ahmed A., the identified leader of this network, lives, as well as his associate, Azman M.