David Leppard and Robert Booth
London
Times
Sunday, January 7, 2007
THE British and American governments have named a key Al-Qaeda
suspect in Britain as one of the terror group’s alleged
bankers.
Mohammed al-Ghabra, whose bank accounts have been frozen by the
Bank of England, last week denied any involvement in terrorism.
He admitted he had “radical views” and said he was
an active supporter of Respect, the anti-war party led by George
Galloway, the maverick former Labour MP.
The American government has issued a statement “designating”
al-Ghabra, who lives in east London, as someone “who provides
material and logistical support to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist
organisations”.
The Americans and British intelligence officials allege in official
documents that al-Ghabra, 26, is a key organiser in the international
“pipeline” that sends terrorists from Britain to fight
coalition troops in Iraq.
Al-Ghabra, a naturalised British citizen who was born in Syria,
received a letter from the Treasury last month telling him: “The
Treasury has reasonable grounds for suspecting that you are, or
may be, a person who facilitates the commission of acts of terrorism.”
Speaking at his home in Forest Gate, al-Ghabra said MI5 had repeatedly
accused him in interviews with his friends of being a terrorist
“moneymaker”. He said: “If I am the moneymaker
and this is why they have decided to put the sanctions against
me, how could I have so many financial problems myself?”
In its statement, issued after his bank accounts were frozen,
the US Treasury said: “Al-Ghabra has organised travel to
Pakistan for individuals seeking to meet senior Al-Qaeda individuals
and to undertake jihad training.
“Several of these individuals have returned to the UK to
engage in covert activity on behalf of Al-Qaeda. Additionally,
al-Ghabra has provided material support and facilitated the travel
of UK-based individuals to Iraq to support the insurgents’
fight against coalition forces.”
Last month his home, a two-storey maisonette where he lives with
his mother and sister, was raided by Scotland Yard’s counterterrorist
command. According to the search warrant, detectives were looking
for “explosives, precursor chemicals, weapons, component
parts of weapons or improvised explosive devices”.
They were also looking for “documentation, maps, plans
or any other data giving details of possible targets/venues subject
to terrorist attack”.
MI5 has apparently targeted al-Ghabra while conducting an investigation
into the so-called “pipeline” that is fuelling the
terrorist insurgency in Iraq.
The flow of young Muslim men from Europe to Iraq has increased
in the past three years. The “pipeline” of suspected
terrorists is being fuelled by growing resentment about American
and British policy and scandals such as the maltreatment of inmates
at Abu Ghraib prison.
Al-Ghabra says that MI5 is simply wrong to connect him to any
of this. “I don’t have the capability of supporting
anyone financially, barely myself . . . If anyone has the evidence,
please show it to me. I am not the banker.”
He was charged with fraud and possession of a document or record
that could be useful to terrorism and spent nine months in Belmarsh
high-security prison in south London before being acquitted by
a jury in 2004.
He says he is an active member of the Muslim Prisoner Support
group, which campaigns for the rights of suspected Islamic terrorists.
The group’s website says he was a speaker at a demonstration
it held outside Belmarsh last October.
British intelligence officials claim al-Ghabra is associated
with several suspects who have been arrested in connection with
alleged Al-Qaeda plots against British targets.
One is Haroon Aswat, currently in a British prison awaiting extradition
to America on terrorism charges.
Al-Ghabra said he met Aswat at a religious school in the Pakistani
city of Lahore.
He said their association was entirely innocent and he was “shocked”
to see Aswat’s picture on television when he was arrested
in 2005 after the London bombings.
Al-Ghabra said he had attended several Respect meetings because
he supported its views on Iraq and other issues. He claimed to
have nominated some of its election candidates. The party said
records were no longer available to confirm this.
“I don’t believe I am a member of any party, but
I help people who speak for people who are oppressed. I support
their (Respect’s) message. I like some of his (Galloway’s)
views on the anti-war campaign, even some of his taxation ideas.”
A spokesman for Respect said: “He is not a member and we
don’t know him. But we also understand that he has not been
charged with any offence or convicted in a court of law.”
The American Treasury claims al-Ghabra is “in regular contact
with UK-based Islamic extremists and has been involved in the
radicalisation of individuals in the UK through the distribution
of extremist media”.
But al-Ghabra denied that his views were extreme. “My radical
views are the same as any ordinary Muslim’s radical views.
Yes, I disagree with the invasion of Iraq. Yes, I disagree with
the invasion of Afghanistan . . . I don’t agree with people
coming here and . . . fighting here, fighting the British public.
Things like the July bombings I don’t agree with.”
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