Noorzai denies he was a Taliban financier

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 legitimate 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 an extremist religious seminary and storing vehicles for suicide bombings. On Thursday, it announced sanctions on them and three other individuals, including Abdul Aziz Abbasin, described as a "key commander" for the Afghan Taliban-allied Haqqani network. The move came amid heightened American concerns over the activities of the Haqqani group, which Washington blames for a September 13 attack on its embassy in Kabul.