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U.S. Citizen Accused of Funneling Terrorist Funds

Aired December 04, 2002 - 13:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: But first this hour, officials in the United States and Israel say a Syrian-born U.S. citizen was arrested late last month on suspicion of aiding terror groups, including al Qaeda. The arrest was made in Israel and the man was deported.
CNN's Chris Burns is standing by in Jerusalem to tell us the entire story.

Hi -- Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well it's enough to raise a lot of alarm bells, a possible -- about this money trail that could be linked to al Qaeda. Israeli authorities say that they detained this man by the name of Dr. Kahaled Nazem Diyab, 34 years old, Syrian born, naturalized American, that they stopped him at the airport. And they held him for about a month, holding him under questioning, saying that he had lived in Afghanistan, had possible ties with the Taliban, had possible ties with Hamas, the militant group here in the occupied territories, and that is something that had raised a lot of alarm bells.

The Israelis, however, at the last -- this last week said that they didn't have enough evidence to charge him, that they had let him go, deported him. But at least some authorities here are saying that this is a warning to others who might be considering giving money to terror groups -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now, Chris, I understand he was working for charity organizations, specifically the Red Cross. Has the Red Cross responded to this at all?

BURNS: We did talk to the Red Cross and they say that Mr. Diyab was not, as far as they know, not involved in any kind of terror activity, that he was working through the Qatari Red Cross. And he had been living in Qatar for a while, that he had come to help the Palestinian Red Crescent, assistant to doctors in training psychologically, and that he had nothing to do with any kind of terror group -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Chris, how did the investigation go down? How exactly was he tracked?

BURNS: Well he was stopped because apparently he had been through the Palestinian territories before. He had been working, at least through charity organizations, Red Cross, among others, and that had raised -- apparently raised alarm bells among the Israelis. Now what the U.S. says is that they have no evidence to prove that he has any links to any terror groups, that as far as they know he is a medical doctor who is simply working with charity groups. Up to this point, no evidence at least, what Washington says, no evidence that they see that is damning enough to arrest him -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Chris, I understand he also lived in Afghanistan. What more can you tell us about that and his activities there?

BURNS: Well, according to the Israelis, they say that he lived there and that he had, for a certain period of time, that he had contacts with people who had links to the Taliban; but all of this is fairly murky. Also this question of links to people who had links to Hamas here in the territories, what does that exactly mean? Again, this -- the Israelis, of course, very suspicious about a man who comes from Kuwait, who is of Arab origin, who has a lot of money and is going into the Palestinian territories, that raises a lot -- a lot of alarm bells among the Israelis. So apparently they had enough reason to hold him, but the Americans say they had no reason to keep him -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Chris Burns, the first to break this story. We appreciate it, Chris. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 4, 2002 - 13:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: But first this hour, officials in the United States and Israel say a Syrian-born U.S. citizen was arrested late last month on suspicion of aiding terror groups, including al Qaeda. The arrest was made in Israel and the man was deported.
CNN's Chris Burns is standing by in Jerusalem to tell us the entire story.

Hi -- Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well it's enough to raise a lot of alarm bells, a possible -- about this money trail that could be linked to al Qaeda. Israeli authorities say that they detained this man by the name of Dr. Kahaled Nazem Diyab, 34 years old, Syrian born, naturalized American, that they stopped him at the airport. And they held him for about a month, holding him under questioning, saying that he had lived in Afghanistan, had possible ties with the Taliban, had possible ties with Hamas, the militant group here in the occupied territories, and that is something that had raised a lot of alarm bells.

The Israelis, however, at the last -- this last week said that they didn't have enough evidence to charge him, that they had let him go, deported him. But at least some authorities here are saying that this is a warning to others who might be considering giving money to terror groups -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now, Chris, I understand he was working for charity organizations, specifically the Red Cross. Has the Red Cross responded to this at all?

BURNS: We did talk to the Red Cross and they say that Mr. Diyab was not, as far as they know, not involved in any kind of terror activity, that he was working through the Qatari Red Cross. And he had been living in Qatar for a while, that he had come to help the Palestinian Red Crescent, assistant to doctors in training psychologically, and that he had nothing to do with any kind of terror group -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Chris, how did the investigation go down? How exactly was he tracked?

BURNS: Well he was stopped because apparently he had been through the Palestinian territories before. He had been working, at least through charity organizations, Red Cross, among others, and that had raised -- apparently raised alarm bells among the Israelis. Now what the U.S. says is that they have no evidence to prove that he has any links to any terror groups, that as far as they know he is a medical doctor who is simply working with charity groups. Up to this point, no evidence at least, what Washington says, no evidence that they see that is damning enough to arrest him -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Chris, I understand he also lived in Afghanistan. What more can you tell us about that and his activities there?

BURNS: Well, according to the Israelis, they say that he lived there and that he had, for a certain period of time, that he had contacts with people who had links to the Taliban; but all of this is fairly murky. Also this question of links to people who had links to Hamas here in the territories, what does that exactly mean? Again, this -- the Israelis, of course, very suspicious about a man who comes from Kuwait, who is of Arab origin, who has a lot of money and is going into the Palestinian territories, that raises a lot -- a lot of alarm bells among the Israelis. So apparently they had enough reason to hold him, but the Americans say they had no reason to keep him -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Chris Burns, the first to break this story. We appreciate it, Chris. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com