Men sent Libya terror groups money and military equipment, court hears

The four men are accused of supporting the February 17 Brigades and the Libyan Dawn after the 2011 conflict that toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

ABU DHABI // A group of men supported terror groups in Libya by sending them millions of dirhams, cars, night vision goggles and bulletproof vests from the UAE, a state security witness told the Federal Supreme Court.

The four men are accused of supporting the February 17 Brigades and the Libyan Dawn after the 2011 conflict that toppled the regime of Muammar Qadhafi.

“The men formed a committee under false pretences of aid. They collected money and sent it to the groups on two occasions. They sent Dh6 million on one occasion and US$1,485,000 on another,” said the witness.

“They also purchased 106 cars that were sent to Libya through Tunisia and Malta.”

Libyan K D, 55, and his son M D, 34, an American citizen, are accused alongside S A, 47, and E U, 66, both from Libya, of providing financial support to the two organisations who follow the Muslim Brotherhood.

They are also accused of providing tools and assets including telecommunication devices, night vision goggles and bulletproof vests.

The witness told the court that all of the transactions were done through legitimate channels, which enabled the men to transfer such large sums.

M D told the judge: “To be able to conduct business and send all the money, cars and equipment a lot of approvals were required from Dubai Police, the Libyan Authorities and others. There’s no way that what we were doing was illegal.”

His lawyers argued that the group started their funding in 2011 soon after the transition of governments in Libya and asked the witness when the groups were officially considered terrorists.

The state security witness explained that in 2011, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs, denounced an attack against the UAE’s embassy as a “terrorist act” and blamed it on Libyan Dawn and Ansar Al Sharia. The bombing badly damaged the embassy and wounded three people.

The case was adjourned to March 21.