Iran Press/Asia: 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, a Muslim-dominated city on Sri Lanka’s eastern shores, Reuters reported.
"Information has been revealed that the suspect arrested had a close relationship with Zahran and had been operating financial transactions," said a police statement late on Friday.
The statement said Aliyar was 'involved' with training in the southern town of Hambantota for the group of suicide bombers who attacked hotels and churches on Easter, killing over 250 people.
A police spokesman declined to provide details on the accusations.
Calls to Aliyar and his associates went unanswered. Reuters was unable to find contact details for a lawyer.
The government says Zahran, was a leader of the group.
Two Muslim community sources in Kattankudy told Reuters his hardline views were partly shaped by ultra-conservative Salafi-Wahhabi texts that he picked up at the Centre for Islamic Guidance’s library around 2-3 years ago. The sources are not affiliated with the center.
"I used to always run into him at the center, reading Saudi journals and literature," said one of the sources.
"That kind of teaching was not in Sri Lanka in 2016, unless you read it in Salafi literature," the source added, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions in Kattankudy.
Salafism, which is closely linked to Wahhabism, has often been criticized as the ideology of radical extrimists worldwide.
Wahhabi has its roots in Saudi Arabia and is backed by its rulers, although Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has committed the kingdom to a so called more moderate form of Islam.
Other than the fact that Zahran visited the center, the sources in Kattankudy said they did not know of any personal ties between him and Aliyar.
Aliyar founded the center in 1990, a year after he graduated from the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University in Riyadh, in what one resident said marked a key moment in the spread of Salafi doctrine in Kattankudy.
The center was partly funded by Saudi and Kuwaiti donors, according to a plaque outside.
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