Overview

Ahmed Luqman Talib is a U.S.-designated, Australian national who is a financial and operational facilitator for al-Qaeda. Talib operates a gemstone business based in Australia. Talib and his company, Talib and Sons, were designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 19, 2020.“Counter Terrorism Designations; Iran-related Designations,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, October 19, 2020, https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20201019; Pranshu Verma, “U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Qaeda Financier Who Trades in Gems,” New York Times, October 19, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/us/politics/treasury-sanctions-qaeda-gems.html. On March 29, 2021, Talib was arrested by the Australian police and charged with “one count of preparations for foreign incursions into foreign states for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities.”Toby Crockford, “Australian father-of-eight accused of supporting Syrian Terrorist,” Brisbane Times, March 30, 2021, https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/australian-father-of-eight-accused-of-supporting-syrian-terrorist-20210329-p57f2g.html.

On May 31, 2010, while still a university student at Gold Coast University, Talib joined a flotilla of activists seeking to break an Israeli blockade of Gaza. The flotilla of vessels, which was boarded in international waters about 80 miles from the Israeli coast, was organized in part by a Turkish group called the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (IHH). The organizers claimed to be delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli government, IHH is linked to the terrorist group Hamas and is associated with the U.S.-designated Union of Good charity network. Israeli naval commandos eventually raided and took siege of the flotilla and shot Talib, who survives, along with several others.Pranshu Verma, “U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Qaeda Financier Who Trades in Gems,” New York Times, October 19, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/us/politics/treasury-sanctions-qaeda-gems.html; Paul McGeough, “Australian student tells of his flotilla ordeal,” Sydney Morning Herald, June 7, 2010, https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-student-tells-of-his-flotilla-ordeal-20100606-xnbh.html; Thomas Joscelyn, “Designated al Qaeda facilitator operates gemstone business based in Australia,” Long War Journal, October 19, 2020, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/10/designated-al-qaeda-facilitator-operates-gemstone-business-based-in-australia.php; “Mavi Marmara: Why did Israel stop the Gaza flotilla?,” BBC News, June 27, 2016, https://www.bbc.com/news/10203726; Jamal Elshayyal, “A decade has passed, but the Mavi Marmara killings I saw still shape me,” Al Jazeera, May 30, 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/5/30/a-decade-has-passed-but-the-mavi-marmara-killings-i-saw-still-shape-me.

According to official documents, Talib registered Talib & Sons PTY LTD on February 5, 2019 in Mount Waverly, Australia.“TALIB & SONS PTY LTD ACN 633 227 488,” Australian Securties and Investments Commission, https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/panelSearch.jspx?searchText=633227488&searchType=OrgAndBusNm&_adf.ctrl-state=ex5nf0ybi_15. Owned, controlled, and directed by Talib, the company has financial dealings in Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey, and the Gulf. By using his company as a cover, Talib was able to move funds internationally for al-Qaeda.“Treasury Designates al-Qa’ida Financial Facilitator,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, October 19, 2020, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1157. According to experts at the Washington Institute, gemstones are easy to move and hold value, which has provided al-Qaeda a way to evade detection from governments and the private sector who have heightened surveillance of formal financial systems to counter the financing of terrorism.Pranshu Verma, “U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Qaeda Financier Who Trades in Gems,” New York Times, October 19, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/us/politics/treasury-sanctions-qaeda-gems.html.

On October 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated both Talib for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, al-Qaeda. OFAC also designated Talib and Sons.“Treasury Designates al-Qa’ida Financial Facilitator,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, October 19, 2020, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1157.

On March 29, 2021, Talib was arrested in Chambers Flat, in Queensland, Australia. He was charged with one “count of preparations for foreign incursions into foreign states for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities between September 1, 2013 and October 1, 2020.”Toby Crockford, “Australian father-of-eight accused of supporting Syrian Terrorist,” Brisbane Times, March 30, 2021, https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/australian-father-of-eight-accused-of-supporting-syrian-terrorist-20210329-p57f2g.html. His case is currently awaiting a hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court on June 25, 2021.Toby Crockford, “Australian father-of-eight accused of supporting Syrian Terrorist,” Brisbane Times, March 30, 2021, https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/australian-father-of-eight-accused-of-supporting-syrian-terrorist-20210329-p57f2g.html.