A US academic is fighting to stop an English judge silencing her suspicions that a Saudi sheikh may have bank-rolled al-Qaeda.

Although Rachel Ehrenfeld’s book Funding Evil was published only in America, Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz turned to the London courts to bring a successful libel action against the author. She, in turn, is asking a New York judge to defend her right to freedom of speech by making Mr Justice Eady’s order unenforceable in the US.

The wealthy banker and philanthropist, who owns a country estate, Elk Meadows, near Slough, Berkshire, and a large condominium in Park Lane, has won so many defamation claims that he publishes an anthology of apologies on his website. This year alone, Cambridge University Press pulped 2,300 copies of Alms for Jihadand apologised to Sheikh bin Mahfouz at the High Court in London. Profile Books of London destroyed Unknown Soldiers by Matthew Carr after receiving a letter from the sheikh’s solicitors.

Sheikh bin Mahfouz and his sons were awarded £30,000 against Dr Ehrenfeld in 2005, although only 23 copies of her book entered England and one chapter had been posted on the internet. Mr Justice Eady ruled that it was false to say that Sheikh bin Mahfouz: supported terrorism; contributed millions of dollars to al-Qaeda; deposited tens of millions of dollars into accounts held by terrorists implicated in the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania; and sponsored Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism.

The judge accused Dr Ehrenfeld of trying to cash in on the publicity of being sued in London while refusing to attend court to justify her allegations. The sheikh is described in her suit, to be heard at a New York appeal court this month, as “linked numerous times by responsible sources to the financing of terrorist organisations”.

The sheikh’s lawyers state in court documents: “After the events of September 11, 2001, Dr Ehrenfeld and a small number of other writers gained notoriety by advancing sensational claims that wealthy ‘members of the [Saudi] Royal Family and individuals close to the Saudi Government’, including Sheikh bin Mahfouz and his family, have knowingly provided vast amounts of financial support for al-Qaeda and other terror organisations either directly or indirectly through their support of Islamic charities.

“If true, this would make Mr bin Mahfouz, members of the Saudi Royal Family and other prominent Saudi citizens international criminals and enemies of the United States and the United Kingdom, subject to a range of sanctions by a number of governments, including regulatory freezing of their assets and criminal prosecution. In fact, Mr bin Mahfouz has never been listed as a direct or indirect supporter of terrorism by any agency of any government or international organisation.” Since 9/11, Sheikh bin Mahfouz had repeatedly condemned all forms of terrorism, they said.

Dr Ehrenfeld’s court brief describes the Saudi as a “serial libel tourist”. The sheikh denied being a libel tourist in England where he and his sons had for many years had substantial connections, including residences and a London-based oil company.

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