Al-Ibaryari Under Sanctions… His Years in Vienna and His Mysterious Rise in London
U.S. sanctions are closing in on Mahmoud Al-Ibaryari, an Austrian citizen who spent decades operating within Muslim Brotherhood networks, from Vienna to London, where he built a financial empire.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) describes Al-Ibaryari as a senior leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, months after Washington designated the Egyptian branch, in January 2026, as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization.”
Lorenzo Vidino, one of Europe’s most prominent researchers on the Muslim Brotherhood, explained to the Austrian newspaper Express the extent of Al-Ibaryari’s actual influence. He said: “He belongs to the inner leadership circle of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in London, with a particular focus on financial affairs.”
This particular focus on financial matters takes on added significance in light of the new allegations issued by Washington.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that Al-Ibaryari supported fundraising campaigns for organizations that had already been sanctioned because of their links to Hamas.
The statement said: “Al-Ibaryari collaborated with groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood to support Hamas and provide it with financial assistance.”
According to OFAC, the official basis for imposing sanctions on him is his direct or indirect involvement in activities conducted for or on behalf of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Washington, however, identifies the allegations related to Hamas as an additional aspect of his activities.
His Years in Vienna
Al-Ibaryari first drew the attention of researchers in 2017. In his comprehensive study titled The Muslim Brotherhood in Austria, published that same year, Vidino had already described him as “a long-time resident of Vienna and an Austrian citizen.
Vidino conducted the study in cooperation with the University of Vienna and with support from the Austrian Integration Fund, as well as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism, Austria’s domestic intelligence service.
At the time, Vidino wrote that Al-Ibaryari was among the senior members of what had traditionally been known as the “center of the Muslim Brotherhood outside Egypt.”
With regard to Al-Ibaryari’s years in Vienna, an interview Vidino conducted with Samir Abu Al-Laban in Vienna in December 2021, later published in a 2022 report by the Austrian Documentation Centre for Political Islam, particularly on pages 37 to 43, is especially revealing in this regard.
Abu Al-Laban, a Syrian-born man, speaks openly about his former affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and his role as a prominent figure within Austrian circles. He is therefore not an outsider unfamiliar with the organization’s affairs, but rather provides an insider’s account.
Speaking about the years he spent with Al-Ibaryari in the 1980s, he said: “We spent the first six or seven years together in the Austrian Islamic Association. Before that, there was another organization called the Islamic Union.”
The Austrian Islamic Association (IVÖ) operates a mosque on Praterstrasse in Vienna. According to a report by the Austrian Documentation Centre for Political Islam, the association actively disseminated the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology and maintained close personal and organizational ties with Liga Kultur in Vienna.
According to the report, Liga Kultur itself was closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood’s international structures.
Prior to that, Abu Al-Laban and Al-Ibaryari, according to his account, were also active in the Islamic Union, which was likewise close to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Austria’s Role
Vienna was not merely a secondary hub. Al-Ibaryari’s years there coincided with a period in which Austria, according to Vidino’s study, played a highly significant role in the European network of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
According to the study, the Muslim Brotherhood published its magazine Al-Daawa fi Europe in Vienna during the 1970s and 1980s, regarded as its most important publication in the West.
Vidino historically describes Austria as a base for various actors affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. These actors established institutional structures, recruited members, and provided political, financial, and material support to the parent organization.
The allegations concerning fundraising for Hamas are not new either. In his 2017 study, Vidino wrote: “Leaders and branches of the Muslim Brotherhood around the world, including in Austria, raised funds for Hamas.”
For Al-Ibaryari, being placed on the OFAC sanctions list means, among other things, that his assets and financial interests located in the United States or subject to the control of U.S. persons are frozen. Foreign financial institutions may also face sanctions risks when conducting certain transactions with sanctioned individuals.
A Mysterious Move
Another statement made by Abu Al-Laban during the interview is particularly noteworthy. He said that Al-Ibaryari “was forced to leave the country and moved to Britain” in 1988, but he did not explain why the man was “forced” to leave Austria.
Observers, however, believe that Al-Ibaryari’s departure may have been linked to a redistribution of roles and activities within the organization, as well as his shift toward Muslim Brotherhood circles in London.
In London, Al-Ibaryari began his rise through the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood’s leadership.
Vidino had already written in 2017 that Al-Ibaryari’s central position in London was also reflected in British corporate records.
His name appeared there as general manager of Nile Valley Trust and Alamat Media Services. According to research conducted at the time, both entities were registered at 113 Cricklewood Broadway, an address that Vidino described as the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in London.
One of Al-Ibaryari’s sons, Abdulrahman, who is also an Austrian citizen, was likewise registered, according to Vidino’s research at the time, as a director of Alamat Media Services.
