Under US sanctions: Pakistani businessman denies terror links

Hajji Malik Noorzai says he is dedicated to teaching children about Islam.

ISLAMABAD: One of the men sanctioned by the United States for supporting “the most dangerous terrorist organisations” in Afghanistan and Pakistan denied on Friday he was a Taliban financier.

Hajji Malik Noorzai told Reuters he was a Pakistani businessman trying to turn a profit in countries as far apart as Afghanistan and Uganda, and someone dedicated to teaching children about the peaceful religion of Islam.

The US Treasury Department accuses him and his brother Faizullah of raising millions of dollars for the Taliban, running a seminary and storing vehicles for suicide bombings.

Noorzai, it says, is an example of how Afghan militant groups have also managed to secure critical support from businessmen in the region.

Noorzai said he was dumbfounded when he heard the news of American punitive measures against him on television.

“We have no connection with the Taliban, no connection with the Haqqanis. We have no need for such contacts, nor do we have the kind of money that can help run such groups,” Noorzai said in a telephone interview. “I worked very hard to set up my business, God is my witness. I didn’t give any money to anyone.”

Noorzai says he is an importer and exporter of cars and machinery. He believes he is the victim of a malicious plot by competitors to ruin his reputation.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2011.