BI to deport Jordanian linked to Bin Laden’s bro-in-law

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 1, 2019): BI to deport Jordanian linked to Bin Laden’s bro-in-law

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is set to deport a Jordanian national who reportedly worked with a brother-in-law of the late Al-Qaeda terror group leader Osama bin Laden who was arrested in Mindanao early last month.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente on Thursday said 51-year-old Mahmoud Afif Abdeljalil is now under the custody of the government after his arrest by joint operatives of the BI, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police in Zamboanga City last July 4.

The BI chief issued the mission order that led to the arrest of the foreigner, who will be deported for illegally entering the country.

“We are going to deport him for being an illegal entrant as he has no record of arrival, after he was arrested and deported in 2003 for being an undesirable alien,” Morente said in a statement.

He added that Abdeljalil assumed a fictitious name and resorted to misrepresentation and falsification of public documents which enabled him to reside in the country.

It was learned that authorities started monitoring the Jordanian’s activities in the country when he and his Algerian companion were flagged down at a military checkpoint in Zamboanga in August last year.

After months of intensive surveillance and case buildup, it was confirmed that the alien has been unlawfully staying in the country.

During questioning, Abdeljalil claimed that he returned to the country in 2007 and admitted that he was previously arrested and deported by the BI in 2003 for having an expired visa and involvement in clandestine terrorist activities as a Palestinian under the name Mahmood Afif.

When he was earlier arrested, authorities said the Jordanian served as the point man of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, a Saudi businessman and Bin Laden’s brother-in-law, in managing several charity organizations in Mindanao that funneled money to Al Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf Group.

Three years after he was deported, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reportedly froze Khalifa’s bank accounts and financial assets to prevent funds from being laundered further to the said terrorist groups.

Authorities also alleged that even after Khalifa was killed in 2007, Abdeljalil continued to extend financial support to the Abu Sayyaf using as fronts several mosques and Madrasah schools that he built in Mindanao that received Al-Qaeda funding from abroad.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076699