IMAN Chairman concerned at reports of up to 2,000 British extremists fighting abroad
Sábado, 11 Octubre 2014
ISIS: Up to 2,000 British jihadists could have joined the terror organisation in Syria and Iraq
DAILY MIRROR
Up to 2,000 British jihadists are fighting for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, an MP has warned.
Labour’s Khalid Mahmoud claimed more UK youngsters than ever are being radicalised as the government fails to act to stop the menace.
He said: “The official figures are a huge understatement. The true figure of British radicals in Syria and Iraq is closer to 2,000. Still the numbers are rising.”
A leading counter-extremism think-tank also claimed 300 Brits have returned from IS strongholds in Syria and Iraq – but only 60 have been arrested.
MP Mahmoud gave his warning after Tory London mayor Boris Johnson yesterday claimed our security services are monitoring “thousands” of terrorist suspects in the capital.
And it came as a Sunday Mirror investigation found government spending on the Prevent anti-radicalisation program established by Labour after the 7/7 terror attacks has been HALVED since 2009.
Mr Mahmoud said: “Some are being radicalised online. People are still going out with charities and being radicalised once they are shown atrocities.
“People might have gone out with the best intentions. But what we have not dealt with is the soft radicalisation by groups like Hizb ut Tahrir. They have talked about the Caliphate for 20 years.”
Hizb ut Tahrir are a pro-Islamic party allowed to operate here despite repeated calls for the organisation to be banned.
Mr Mahmoud, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, added: “We still haven’t addressed some of these issues and I hope it’s not going to be too little too late.
“We do not have proper border controls. These people are coming back and we don’t know who or where they are.”
Last week tension rose as police arrested five men in West London allegedly involved in plotting the first IS attack on British soil.
As the suspected cell was being quizzed, cops across the UK were put on high alert by terror chiefs fearing another Lee Rigby-style execution.
A counter-extremism expert told the Sunday Mirror that our security services were already stretched to breaking point and working at “optimum level” trying to contain the growing threat.
Haras Rafiq, of the respected Quilliam Foundation, said: “We need to expand or they simply won’t be able to cope,”
He called for a government ‘tzar’ to develop a strategy to combat the radicalisation of young Muslims.
Mr Rafiq said: “There needs to be far greater co-operation between the Government, police and agencies working towards dealing with this issue.
“The latest estimate of jihadi numbers in London and fighting in Syria and Iraq should be of very serious concern. We need more political action. We know that up to 300 have returned already and only 60 have been arrested. Some will pose no threat but others potentially will.
“This Government abandoned the fight against extreme Islamist ideology when it came into office. The result is hundreds have been radicalised unchecked.”
Boris Johnson admitted yesterday the terror threat in the capital was far greater than previously admitted. He said: “We are very vigilant and very concerned. There are probably in the low thousands of people we are monitoring in London.”
It has emerged a top London comprehensive in the posh Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea appears to have become a breeding ground for young jihadists. In the past two years six former pupils from Holland Park School have left Britain to become Islamic fighters or have been linked to terrorism.
UK authorities have stepped up security amid fears of a “lone wolf” attack after British bombing of IS targets in Iraq. But critics claim there has been a “complete retreat” in efforts to stop radicalisation.
A Sunday Mirror investigation backed that up. We found government spending on Prevent, originally a program of task forces to stop radicalisation in Muslim communities, was cut from £91million when the Coalition came into office to £35million in 2012/13.
Now Home Office resources are aimed at police actions to deal with dangerous individuals already committed to the cause. Until 2010, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) spent between £17million and £25million on projects aimed at fighting the root causes of radicalisation.
But in 2011, the DCLG was stripped of all responsibility for Prevent and asked to put in place “policy and programmes to deal with extremism”.
The new strategy has been widely criticised. Ex-Home Office minister Baroness Neville-Jones has said: “I do not think there’s enough money, or enough drive.”
And Labour MP Hazel Blears, who set up and ran Prevent, said: “What worries me is the DCLG have abandoned the program.
“The police are doing a great job but they are doing it when radicalisation has already taken place.”
Kris Hopkins, Minister for Local Government, told the Sunday Mirror: “We are committed to confronting and challenging extremism in all its forms. We have rejected Labour’s failed and discredited Prevent regime, which created resentment, undermined community cohesion and wasted taxpayers’ money.”
Meanwhile the steady stream of young radicals keeps on flowing.
One, 19-year-old Ibrahim Kamara from Brighton, is believed to have died in US air strikes on the city of Aleppo last month.
He travelled to Syria last February with three brothers from Brighton and fought for Jabhat al-Nusra, linked to al-Qaeda. His mother Khadijah said she was stunned by how quickly her son was radicalised. She said: “It all happened so fast. He was just a normal boy, going to school, playing football.
“He wasn’t disrespectful. He just met the wrong people.”
Responding to the report, IMAN Chairman, Ribal Al-Assad said:
"I am extremely concerned at this latest report, I have consistently warned about the danger of foreign nationals joining Islamic extremist groups in Syria and Iraq; to hear that up to 2,000 UK nationals alone may be fighting is alarming.
The British Government must do something about this problem and hold all nationals who have travelled to the region to account for their actions. They must also ensure that no more UK citizens travel to the region - this is a key if we are to stem the endemic violence in the region.
Furthermore the British Government must warn its allies in the region that allowing clerics and others to incite, fund and arm these extremists is completely unacceptable, it must also hold them to account if they continue to be complacent. The UK must use its influence to ensure that ISIS and all other jihadist groups are not supported in any way - this includes both cutting their support lines and shutting down extremist websites, TV channels and all forms of communication.
This is absolutely imperative in the fight to rid the region of extremism once and for all."
