London: At least 35 terrorists incarcerated
at Guantanamo Bay were sent to fight against the West after
being indoctrinated by "extremist preachers" in mosques,
particularly the one at Finsbury Park in Britain, according to
documents leaked by WikiLeaks.
The documents, written by senior US military commanders
at Guantanamo Bay, illustrate how, for two decades, Britain
effectively became a crucible of terrorism, with dozens of
extremists, home-grown and from abroad, radicalised here.
They also described the Finsbury Park Mosque in London
as "haven" for extremists.
'The Daily Telegraph' reported that Abu Qatada and Abu
Hamza, two preachers who lived off state benefits after
claiming asylum in the UK, are identified by US authorities as
the key recruiters responsible for sending dozens of
extremists from throughout the world to Pakistan and
Afghanistan via London mosques.
US intelligence officials concluded the mosque served as
"an attack planning and propaganda production base".
Extremist preachers radicalised the men at London
mosques, showing them videos of atrocities committed against
Muslims in Bosnia and Chechnya.
According to one document, Finsbury Park mosque was "a
key transit facility for the movement of North African and
other extremists in London to and from al Qaeda training camps
in Afghanistan".
They were flown to Pakistan and Afghanistan at the
terrorist group’s expense, put up in special guest houses and
sent to the training camps.
They were introduced to senior al Qaeda figures
including Bin Laden and taught to fight and make bombs. Wives
were arranged for some terrorists and their families received
generous payments.
According to the report, the files will raise questions
over why the Government and security services failed to take
action sooner to tackle the capital's reputation as a staging
post for terrorism, which became so established that the city
was termed "Londonistan".
The documents show that at least 35 detainees at
Guantanamo had passed through Britain before being sent to
fight against Allied forces in Afghanistan.
This is thought to be more than from any other Western
nation. The Government has paid millions of pounds in
compensation and benefits to people regarded as highly
dangerous by the US authorities.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 00:02