Saudi-educated scholar held for Sri Lanka attack link

KATTANKUDY: Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a Saudi-educated scholar for what they claim are links with Zahran Hashim, the suspected ringleader of the Easter Sunday bombings, throwing
a spotlight on the rising influence of Salafi-Wahhabi Islam on the island’s Muslims.
Mohamed Aliyar, 60, is the founder of the Centre for Islamic Guidance, which boasts a mosque, a religious school and a library in Zahran’s hometown of Kattankudy on Sri Lanka’s eastern shores.
“Information has been revealed the suspect arrested had a close relationship with Zahran and had been operating financial transactions,” police said on Friday.