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US places Kenyan Islamic State group 'financier' on blacklist

The US Treasury named to its sanctions blacklist on Friday a Kenyan who it said was a key player in the Islamic State group's global financial network.

The Treasury said Waleed Ahmed Zein, who was arrested in Nairobi in early July, "established an intricate worldwide financial network to facilitate funds transfers" for the jihadist group.

Zein was named a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" under US law, which makes anyone working with him likewise vulnerable to terror charges and blacklisting.

The Treasury said Zein moved over $150 000 through his network for the Islamic State (ISIS) group in 2017 and 2018 to help fund fighters in Syria, Libya and Central Africa.

The financial network spanned Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and eastern Africa, it said.

"Zein is a dangerous terrorist who established an intricate global network of financial facilitators for (ISIS), using hawalas and intermediaries to evade police detection and fund their deadly ambitions," Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.

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