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Britain

Prisoner denies being terror raid intelligence source

2006-06-25

(KUNA) -- A prisoner serving six years for a terrorist offence today denied that he was the source of the intelligence behind this month's police terror raid in east London. Mohammed Abu Bakr Mansha, 22, was named in the British press last weekend as the man who tipped off police that a house in Forest Gate was being used to prepare a terror attack. But his lawyer Sara O'Keefe today said that he "vehemently" denied the allegation, and was now in fear for his own safety and that of his family because he was being branded a "grass" — informer. She confirmed that Mansha was a friend of brothers Mohammed Abdul Kahar and Abul Koyair, who were arrested in the June 2 raid then released without charge after no evidence of a terror plot was found. But, she denied reports that the brothers had visited him in prison. Miss O'Keefe said that Mansha was appealing against the length of his sentence for plotting to kill an Iraq War veteran, which she said was inappropriate because of his youth and his extremely low intelligence level. She confirmed that police had visited him in prison, but said he insisted he told them nothing. Mansha has been moved between prisons twice in recent months, and is now in a segregation unit for his own safety, she said. "He vehemently denies being the source," Miss O'Keefe told BBC Radio. "He knows that in the local area in Forest Gate, there are people who don't like him, maliciously making rumours up. Obviously, he is now concerned for his family and friends. He is concerned they will be followed and perhaps even further action taken against them just because they are related to him. He knows the brothers quite well. They both grew up in the Forest Gate area and I believe the older brother went to school with my client and they were friends... But they have not visited him in prison. Mutual friends have visited him in prison.

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Britain

Terror raid pair may sue police

2006-06-11

EFL Two men released without charge after an anti-terror raid in east London are to take legal action, it is reported. Abul Koyair, 20, and his brother Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, who was shot, will sue the Met, their solicitor Gareth Peirce told the Observer. Other papers speculate the pair, from Forest Gate, could claim up to £500,000 in damages for their ordeal. The police have defended their tactics as the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigates the shooting. The men, who had been held for a week under the Terrorism Act 2000 and questioned on suspicion of terrorism involvement, were released without charge on Friday after police found no trace of a chemical device at their home. Ms Peirce, who is acting for the family, told the Observer the two brothers would now be launching a legal action for damages against the Metropolitan Police. "It will not be enough; the emotional damage will be enormous. In similar cases, some individuals never recover from an incident like this," she said. It's not like anyone was beheaded. "Nobody identified themselves as police as they stormed in wearing terrifying black hoods and started bashing them over the head. "They only realised they were officers when they saw the word 'police' on their backs." According to reports in the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph the brothers could claim up to £500,000 in compensation for Mr Kahar's injuries and for libel damages. Meanwhile the largest of demonstrations on Sunday is expected to take place outside Scotland Yard. Organisations including the usual nobs Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the Muslim Association of Britain, and the Islamic Human Rights Commission, are among those expected to be represented. The MCB's secretary general Mohammed Abdul Bari, who visited Forest Gate on Saturday, told BBC News he was relieved the men had been freed, but that it was important for Muslims to continue to work with the police. "In 7/7, many of them were blown apart, and one of the girls, Saharia Islam, was a regular worshipper in our mosque, in the East London Mosque, so we are Londoners. And anything happens in London, one-tenth of the population are from the Muslim population, so they are affected."

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Britain

Terror raid family disown "police brutality" demo

2006-06-10

More than 100 Muslims protested angrily Friday over the controversial east London anti-terror raid, expressing fury at alleged police brutality and Government oppression of the Islamic community. The demonstrators, prime among them the outspoken Islamic figure Anjem Choudary, gathered outside Forest Gate police station to voice their anger over police tactics and what they claim is their deliberate targeting of ordinary Muslims, the organizers said. But the family of the two brothers arrested during last Friday's raid in Lansdown Road expressed their opposition to the demonstration today, urging the local community not to give it their support. However, the protest continued as demonstrators waved placards emblazoned with a variety of anti-government and anti-police slogans, including "Stop police brutality," and "Blair: shoot first ask questions later." Orchestrated by the leaders of the demo, who took it in turn to address the protesters using a loud hailer, they chanted "British police go to hell" and used vile words against the British Prime Minister. Placards were waved and the chanting was forceful, but the demonstration was peaceful and there were no arrests, police said. Many members of the area's Muslim community were clearly opposed to the protest, with some voicing their opposition and accusing the organizers of "making a bad situation even worse." As the chanting and placard waving outside the police station carried on loudly, just 100 yards away a cousin of the two brothers read a statement in which he said the protests would only serve to fuel the negative betrayal of the local community. The cousin, who gave his name only as Enam, was speaking on behalf of Humeya Kalam, whose brothers Mohammed Abdul Kahar and Abul Koyair, are being questioned at London's high security Paddington Green police station. Urging people not to attend the protest, he said in the statement "This will only provide another opportunity for our community to be betrayed in a negative light. Consequently this will allow the police to inflict the same trauma that we have been through on another family."

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Britain

UK brothers deny chemical plot

2006-06-05

Two brothers suspected of plotting to make a chemical bomb for an attack in Britain have denied all accusations, their lawyers said yesterday, as police continued to search their home. The men, Abul Koyair, 20, and Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, were held during a dawn raid on Friday when more than 250 police officers, some in chemical protection suits, stormed their house in east London. Kahar was shot in the shoulder during the raid, one of the biggest operations since last July's suicide attacks in the British capital, although police said it was not related. Specific intelligence had suggested the house might have been used to make a toxic bomb for an attack in Britain, police sources said. "He says there's absolutely not a word of truth in any of it," Kahar's lawyer Kate Roxburgh told reporters. "He says the police are not going to find anything because there is nothing to find." Koyair's lawyer, Julian Young, said earlier his client had also denied he was involved in any terrorism plot, adding: "To date I have seen no evidence showing that he has been."

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Britain

MI5 fears silent army of 1,200 biding its time in the suburbs

2006-06-04

The terrorist threat facing Britain has developed into a "covert conspiracy" involving hundreds of men and women living ordinary lives in the nation's suburbs, security sources have revealed. Unbeknown to their families and friends, they form a silent 1,200-strong "army" of terrorists. They are believed to be involved in at least 20 major plots that they hope will bring death and destruction to Britain. The scale of the problem facing the security services is underlined by the fact that MI5, which planned Friday's raid in Forest Gate, east London, has only 2,600 staff - and yet is faced with an increasing workload, including organised crime, in addition to the growing threat from international terrorism. I'm available to help, at relatively modest rates... Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and Abul Koyair, 20, the two brothers arrested after the dawn raid may, according to MI5, be typical of other young Asian men who have become disaffected with the Western way of life and have been radicalised by militant Islamists who support a global Jihad. According to neighbours, the brothers underwent a transformation after the September 11 attacks on America in 2001, adopting beards and more traditional Muslim dress. "Lots of young Muslims these days are getting more religious, especially after 9/11," said one neighbour. "It's nothing to be suspicious about." Sure it is. In fact, if I was the British government, I'd think seriously about dumping the guys with the beards and the curly-foed slippers. Schoolfriends of Abdul Kahar last night recalled him as a typical teenager. "Everyone changes," said one friend, who asked not to be named. "He's now deeply religious and prays five times a day." And collects explosives. The brothers regularly attend two local mosques, al Karam Trust on Katherine Road and another in Plashet Grove. Comes as a surprise, doesn't it? "They have become active in the area in trying to get people to go to the mosques," said Mohammed Akram, the vice-chairman of the Muslim Alliance of Newham. Abdul Kahar has recently been on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

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