A student who was caught with €20,000 in cash hidden in her underwear on a flight to Turkey has denied attempting to fund terrorism. Nawal Masaad, 26, stands accused of attempting to smuggle the money through London’s Heathrow Airport en route to Syria, the Telegraph reports.
It is claimed that Masaad was recruited by mother-of-two Amal El-Wahabi to take the money to El-Wahabi’s terrorist husband.
The money was discovered when Masaad was searched at Heathrow airport on 16 January. Both women have pleaded not guilty to helping fund terrorism and are on conditional bail until their trial commences on 7 July.
Last month, Masaad wrote an open letter in which she accused police of “going after British Muslims”, and said she would not be held if she was “Natalie from Surrey”. She wrote: “I was not travelling to Syria, I was travelling to Turkey, Istanbul, which is very far from the Syrian border.”
“At no point did I try to conceal the money from the police, I volunteered the amount of money I was taking. I hate terrorism, I am a British Muslim and [the terrorists] make religion not look peaceful.”
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