Jeddah, Sep 11(Arab News): A special criminal court will try Haila Al-Qaseer this month for allegedly joining Al-Qaeda, providing shelter to wanted terror suspects and funding terrorism.

According to the charges leveled by the public prosecutor, 47-year-old Al-Qaseer, nicknamed Um Al-Rabab, is also accused of recruiting militants for the terrorist organization and possessing weapons to use them for terrorist operations.

The Saudi woman is also accused of traveling to places of violence and battlegrounds without the permission of the ruler. Other charges include forging of ID cards for those who intend to go abroad to fight alongside militants in countries hit by civil wars.

During the trial Al-Qaseer will be given a chance to reply to the charges. According to a judicial source, the trial will take place within two weeks.

“The judge will ask the woman to read out her reply to him and the public prosecutor in the presence of her lawyers,” the source said. In the next session, the prosecutor will present evidence to try to prove the charges against the woman.

Al-Qaseer was arrested in the central city of Buraidah in March 2010 along with other wanted militants belonging to the same family. She is considered one of the principal financiers of Al-Qaeda.

“She was on the verge of having a marital relationship with the No. 2 of Al-Qaeda organization in Yemen, Saeed Al-Shahri,” the source said, adding that her main objective was collecting money for the organization. She had allegedly transferred $650,000 to terrorists.

During the past two years, Al-Qaseer is said to have collected SR2 million for Al-Qaeda in Yemen. She allegedly collected donations in the form of gold, jewelry and cash from philanthropists on the pretext of building mosques and orphanages in the country.

She was responsible for recruiting 60 militants involved in various terrorist operations, the source said. “She also played a big role in helping Wafa Al-Shahri (Um Hajer Al-Azdi) to escape to Yemen. Wafa is the wife of Saeed Al-Shahri. She also recruited young women to the terrorist organization,” the source said.

Al-Qaseer, also known as Lady Al-Qaeda, was arrested while she was staying in the house of a wanted militant in Khabitiya District during a major anti-terror campaign covering six regions of the Kingdom. It resulted in the arrest of 113 militants.

She was allegedly taking care of Yousuf Al-Shahri and Raed Al-Harbi, who were both on the list of 85 wanted terrorists issued by the Interior Ministry. The two were killed during a gunbattle with security officers at a checkpoint in Hamra Al-Darb in Jazan on Oct. 13, 2009. They were trying to smuggle Al-Qaseer into Yemen to get her married to Al-Shahri.