Birmingham men charged with giving money to 'man in the hat' from Isis' Brussels attacks

They are accused of collecting and handing over money for 'terrorist purposes'

Mohamed Abrini is in custody in Belgium after admitting being the 'man in the hat' caught on CCTV at Brussels Airport

Two men from Birmingham have been charged with giving money to the "man in the hat" in Isis' Brussels attacks.

Mohammed Ali Ahmed and Zakaria Boufassil, both 26, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning alongside a female suspect, Soumaya Boufassil.

Ahmed and Zakaria were charged with making “a quantity of sterling currency” available in the knowledge that it would be used for terrorist purposes, West Midlands Police said.

They are accused of entering into an arrangement with Abrini in July last year.

Prosecutors said the pair handed £3,000 to Mohamed Abrini during a meeting at Small Heath Park in Birmingham. Abrini is charged with terror offences after admitting being the "man in the hat" caught on CCTV minutes before the bombings at Brussels Airport last month.

The 31-year-old was previously wanted in connection with the Isis attacks on Paris in November, having been spotted in a car with fellow suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Ahmed and Soumaya, 29, are additionally accused of “accruing monies” in preparation for terror attacks as part of the same case between January and April last year.

The trio, who live in the Small Heath area, were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 13 May.

Ahmed is a British national, while both Zakaria and Soumaya, his sister, are Belgian-Moroccans, the BBC reported.

They were arrested alongside two others in an operation carried out with French and Belgian authorities on 14 and 15 April.

A fourth man, 40-year-old Fazal Sajjad Younis Khan, was charged with possession of CS spray and has been bailed to appear before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 13 May.

A 59-year-old man remains on bail with strict conditions while the West Midlands Police investigation continues.

Additional reporting by PA