Russia detain 7 for allegedly funding Islamist terror group

Seven people have been detained on charges of operating an illegal bank that financed an international Islamist terror group, Russian police said Monday. The suspects were described as members of an ethnic Central Asian criminal group, RIA Novosti reported. Police said they had evidence the group financed the Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Islamist Liberation Party, an international political organization banned in Russia in 2003. The group allegedly laundered about $46 million a month by carrying out illegal financial activities in major markets across Russia, police said. Some $5.4 million was seized from the group, which police said had about 40 members. Authorities did not say when the arrests occurred.