They are Pakistani family. It is alleged that Mohammad Tariq Mahmood's 18 year old son Hamza created a "joke" pro-Taliban and Al-Qaeeda page with his postal address.
Mohammad Tariq Mahmood dismisses Facebook page linked to Taliban and Al Qaeda | Daily Mail Online
Facebook page linked to Taliban and Al Qaeda was registered to same address as British Muslim father whose Disneyland trip was blocked by Homeland Security
- Mohammad Tariq Mahmood tried to travel from Gatwick Airport to LA
- He, his brother and nine children were stopped on the orders of the US
- Mr Mahmood says the family were barred 'because we are Muslim'
- He dismissed Facebook account claiming links to Al Qaeda and Taliban
- It was set up by someone who has lived at the family's postal address
- David Cameron says he'll examine the case after it was raised by an MP
By
Richard Spillett and
Tim Sculthorpe, Mailonline Deputy Political Editor and
Sam Tonkin For Mailonline
Published: 06:06 GMT, 23 December 2015 | Updated: 21:42 GMT, 23 December 201
Mohammad Tariq Mahmood and his family were stopped from going to the U.S. just minutes before they planned to board a flight to Los Angeles where they were going to see family and visit Disneyland
A British Muslim father whose planned Disneyland trip was ruined when he and his family were barred from boarding a flight to the U.S. has now been forced to distance himself from a Facebook account claiming links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Mohammad Tariq Mahmood, 41, his brother and their children, aged between eight and 19, said they were stopped at the departure gate at Gatwick airport and told their visas to the US had been revoked.
He claimed the family were barred from flying 'because they are Muslim'.
However, it has since emerged that a Facebook page claiming links to radical Islamist groups was set up by someone who has lived at the family's postal address, according to ITV News.
The account, which includes information suggesting it may have been published as a joke, was in the name of Hamza Hussain - a first name shared by Mr Mahmood's 18-year-old son. It reportedly lists the job titles 'supervisor at Taliban and leader at al-Qaeda'.
When asked about the account, Mr Mahmood believed hackers may have been to blame, adding: 'That could be anything, maybe a mistake.'
He said: 'It is not my son's Facebook page. It has a similar name, but not the same as my son's.
'The page is also linked to our home address and that could be coincidence. I don't know why it is linked there. The name is not even the same. The authorities must have linked it simply because of the name Hamza.'
It was understood that the wives of Mr Mahmood and his brother had stayed at home for the trip because one of them was ill and one of the children did not have a valid passport.
But it is now believed that Mr Mahmood's wife was in Pakistan at the time.
The family say were given no explanation why their visas, organised six weeks before the flight, were suddenly cancelled at the last minute and have now lost the £11,000 they had saved for the holiday.
It has also been suggested the move by US authorities could be due to Mr Mahmood's brother having been refused entry to Israel eight years ago, but no official explanation has been given by the US Embassy.
The flight ban comes after Republican presidential candidate
Donald Trump called for all Muslims to be stopped from entering the US.
Mr Mahmood, who is from north-west London, has called on David Cameron to demand an explanation from the American authorities and is seeking a refund for the cost of the airline tickets to Los Angeles.
Gym owner Mr Mahmood said the family were going to a reunion with his family in California after 15 years and hoped to visit Disneyland and other tourist sites.
The party were forced to hand back their duty free items with the children in tears.
He said: 'We had been planning the trip for four to five months and my kids had countdowns on their phones.
'It had been about ten or fifteen years since we'd had the whole family together.
It has since emerged that a Facebook page (pictured) claiming links to radical Islamist groups was set up by someone who has lived at the family's postal address. The account was in the name of Hamza Hussain
The family say US officials prevented them from boarding a flight to LA at Gatwick Airport (pictured). They say they were given no reason why they were being stopped
The family had to return to their home in north-west London. Mr Mahmood says the children were in tears
'My kids were really looking forward to seeing their cousins, they live in California. We'd planned skydiving and a desert safari and the kids were all keeping up and talking about it through social media. They'd made a lot of plans.
'Our flight was on Tuesday last week and it was meant to leave at 12:35 in the afternoon. We'd checked in and we'd bought things in duty free.
'We were waiting in the queue at the gate and we were very close to getting on the plane.
'Then an announcement said they wanted to speak to Mr Mohammad. There was no one else of Asian origin or who looked Muslim so I knew it was me.
'A gentleman said he was from British Border Control and he had a border control jacket on.
'He said there was something wrong with my ESTA [Electronic System for Travel Authorization] and that I wouldn't be able to board. I had made sure we had our ESTAs cleared six weeks ago so I couldn't think what could be wrong.
'I asked why we weren't allowed to board. I had to be persistent. He wouldn't tell me why and said he didn't know at first.
They can't react like that just because we are Muslim. We are decent people. My kids are obviously upset.
Mohammad Mahmood
'He finally said they had had a call from Washington DC from homeland security and that I wasn't allowed to board. He wouldn't tell me anything more.'
Mr Mahmood later said his brother was refused entry to Tel Aviv when he flew there eight years ago, but the family were unsure whether that was linked to their refusal to fly last week.
Speaking at his Walthamstow home, he said: 'They are bringing out this thing that my brother was stopped at Tel Aviv.
'But if that was the case it should have been flagged up when we filled out our ESTAs - which was seven or eight weeks ago.
'He was touring a few countries nine or 10 years ago and decided to visit the Grand Mosque. Then he was stopped because he has a big beard, and that. It was not like he was prosecuted or convicted of anything afterwards.
'Maybe the authorities were being awkward. In the end he just came back home.'
Mr Mahmood said there had been talk of a Facebook page which allegedly contained extremist material accredited to a person called 'Hamza Hussain,' the same first name as his 18-year-old son Hamza Mahmood.
He added: 'So far there have been no answers. If Facebook was the problem, why has it come out now?
'If my brother was the problem, why has it come out now?'
Mr Mahmood's sister-in-law Sadaf Mahmood later told
LBC radio that her husband was detained overnight in Israel before being put on a plane back to Britain, but the reason was never explained to them.
She said her children had been left devastated after their holiday fell through and it had been heartbreaking having to unpack their bags.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to examine the case, which comes after US presidential candidate Donald Trump (right) called for Muslims to be banned from entering the US
The issue of the family was raised by their MP Stella Creasy, who says she was ignored by the US embassy
Mr Mahmood, who was born in Pakistan, came to the UK when he was just 12, when his father came to work as a chartered accountant.
He said of last week's incident: 'I felt humiliated and my kids were tearful they were so upset. My son hasn't left the house, he is so upset.
'We just had to go home and return everything we'd bought duty free.
'I'd never experienced anything like that before. I live in a multicultural area and I have my own gym so I spend a lot of time with different people from all kinds of different cultures.
'I respect that these people need to react if there is a genuine concern but they need to make sure this concern is genuine.
'They need to check our backgrounds, check our accounts and check our businesses before they react like that. They can't react like that just because we are Muslim.'
Mr Mahmood added: 'We are decent people. My kids are obviously upset. They know why it happened and they know what is going on in the world.
'It could be because of Donald Trump as why otherwise would all of this spring up on us. I just want an explanation. Or else, where is this all going to stop?'
The family, from north-west London, were hoping to visit cousins in California and go to Disneyland (pictured)
He is the latest British Muslim to have reported being suddenly barred from getting on a transatlantic flight, despite having been granted authorization by US authorities online.
The incident comes in the wake of Republican front-runner Donald Trump's call to ban all Muslims from entering the United States in the wake of the shootings in San Bernardino and Paris.
Mr Cameron has previously called Trump's remarks 'stupid, divisive and wrong'.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to examine the case after it was raised by Mr Mahmood's MP.
Stella Creasy, Labour MP in the Mahmood family's home constituency of Walthamstow, says she has failed to get a response from the US Embassy about their treatment.
She told MailOnline she is aware of four cases over the last 18 months where Muslims had been banned from flying at the last moment.
She said: 'One person went through the redress process and he got a letter simply saying "no you could not fly".'
Ms Creasy said that, without being given proper details, people were concluding they were banned from flying just because of their faith.
+10
Ajmal Masroor, an imam who says he has preached against extremism, was also banned from flying
+10
A post by Mr Masroor, who was also stopped from getting his flight, has been widely shared on Facebook
She added: 'All of us want to be confident that we are doing everything we can to tackle terrorism - prejudice is not part of that.'
The MP said she wanted the Prime Minister to spell out how many people had been stopped from flying to America and what the reasons given were.
A spokesperson for Mr Cameron said he would consider Creasy's letter and 'respond in due course'.
Norwegian Airlines, which has not refunded the family, said: 'We can confirm that a group of passengers were denied the right to board a flight from London Gatwick to Los Angeles last Tuesday 15 December at the request of U.S. Homeland Security.
'Norwegian fully complies with requests from the border controls of each country we serve.'
It comes after an imam who says he has preached against extremism and has previously travelled to the US was also prevented from boarding a flight in similar circumstances.
Ajmal Masroor, who is also from north London, told the BBC: 'America is the country of the free and the brave, that's what we're told, but it looks like it has stooped down to paranoia and narrow-mindedness and that's unfortunate.'
Read more:
Mohammad Tariq Mahmood dismisses Facebook page linked to Taliban and Al Qaeda | Daily Mail Online
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Your troll finally came out....where did you read that the family is a Pakistani origin?, the article says a British Muslim family. Furthermore they were granted the permission already. What is the reason for so much self hate?
Does not matter. If some christians or jews have done crimes....will you say the same for all of them with same names.....Your mentality is exactly the same as ISIS and all other terrorists..
Your mentality is same as ISI and Pakistan Army completely clueless about the world and consequences of your actions.
