temujin
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Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg one of four arrested on suspicion of terrorism
Three men and a woman are arrested in the West Midlands on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences
Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg was one of the four people arrested on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences, police have confirmed. Three men and a woman from the West Midlands were taken into custody this morning, police said. Begg, from Hall Green, Birmingham, is being held on suspicion of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas.
The others, a man aged 36 from Shirley, Solihull, and a 44-year-old woman and her son aged 20 from Sparkhill, Birmingham, were detained on suspicion of assisting terrorism overseas.
All four are being held at a police station in the West Midlands area.
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that Moazzam Begg was arrested this morning." Begg was held by the US government at Bagram detention centre in Afghanistan then Guantanamo Bay for nearly three years after being arrested in Pakistan in February 2002 suspected of being a member of al-Qaeda. He was released without charge in January 2005.
Late last year it was reported the Home Office had confiscated Begg’s passport after he visited Syria.
He claimed he was stopped at Heathrow Airport on a return trip from South Africa and told his passport was being taken as it was “not in the public interest” for him to travel. It is not known if his arrest relates to this trip.
The suspects' three home addresses were being searched by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit today and vehicles and electronic equipment removed for forensic analysis. US officials accused Begg of fighting and recruiting for al-Qaeda as well as attending and raising money for their training camps. The father-of-four has admitted spending time at Islamic training camps in Afghanistan and knowing people linked to terrorism but has always denied the rest of the allegations. He claimed he was abused at Bagram and witnessed two other inmates being beaten to death. After an investigation, in 2005 United States officials concluded the detainees were murdered by American soldiers.
After his release from Guantanamo, Begg and the other British detainees sued the British government for complicity in their alleged abuse and torture while in US custody. They reached an out of court financial settlement in 2010 after the government was forced to hand over documents which revealed ministers had decided a number of British Muslims should be consigned to the US-run prison, despite being aware that they faced being mistreated. Last year an official inquiry reported there was evidence that British intelligence officers had been involved in the abuse of some of these men.
In 2006 Begg released a book, Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey To Guantánamo And Back, about his experiences while incarcerated. He has also been a regular commentator on TV, radio and in newspapers since his release and has lectured across the country.
After being stripped of his passport last year, Begg denied any involvement in terrorist activity. He claimed to be the victim of a harassment campaign due his work with Cageprisoners, a London-based Muslim NGO that campaigns for the rights of people detained during counterterrorism operations. He told the Mail on Sunday: "I have consistently been asking for the intelligence and security services to be held to account for complicity in torture and rendition. It is more logical that is the reason I've had my passport confiscated."
His arrest come after it was revealed about 400 British-based extremists have gone to Syria over the last two years and just over half have returned to the UK.
Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg one of four arrested on suspicion of terrorism - Telegraph
One has to admire the sheer audacity of Islamists like Begg. On being released from Gitmo on technical grounds, he successfully recast himself as a poster child of the liberal left making thousands from TV appearances, articles in the Guardian etc and won financial compensation from the government for alleged maltreatment whilst brazenly continuing his terrorist activites safe in the knowledge that the toothless secutiry services were powerless to stop him...
Hope they have enough evidence to send this mad animal on a one way ticket to Belmarsh this time..
Three men and a woman are arrested in the West Midlands on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences
Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg was one of the four people arrested on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences, police have confirmed. Three men and a woman from the West Midlands were taken into custody this morning, police said. Begg, from Hall Green, Birmingham, is being held on suspicion of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas.
The others, a man aged 36 from Shirley, Solihull, and a 44-year-old woman and her son aged 20 from Sparkhill, Birmingham, were detained on suspicion of assisting terrorism overseas.
All four are being held at a police station in the West Midlands area.
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that Moazzam Begg was arrested this morning." Begg was held by the US government at Bagram detention centre in Afghanistan then Guantanamo Bay for nearly three years after being arrested in Pakistan in February 2002 suspected of being a member of al-Qaeda. He was released without charge in January 2005.
Late last year it was reported the Home Office had confiscated Begg’s passport after he visited Syria.
He claimed he was stopped at Heathrow Airport on a return trip from South Africa and told his passport was being taken as it was “not in the public interest” for him to travel. It is not known if his arrest relates to this trip.
The suspects' three home addresses were being searched by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit today and vehicles and electronic equipment removed for forensic analysis. US officials accused Begg of fighting and recruiting for al-Qaeda as well as attending and raising money for their training camps. The father-of-four has admitted spending time at Islamic training camps in Afghanistan and knowing people linked to terrorism but has always denied the rest of the allegations. He claimed he was abused at Bagram and witnessed two other inmates being beaten to death. After an investigation, in 2005 United States officials concluded the detainees were murdered by American soldiers.
After his release from Guantanamo, Begg and the other British detainees sued the British government for complicity in their alleged abuse and torture while in US custody. They reached an out of court financial settlement in 2010 after the government was forced to hand over documents which revealed ministers had decided a number of British Muslims should be consigned to the US-run prison, despite being aware that they faced being mistreated. Last year an official inquiry reported there was evidence that British intelligence officers had been involved in the abuse of some of these men.
In 2006 Begg released a book, Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey To Guantánamo And Back, about his experiences while incarcerated. He has also been a regular commentator on TV, radio and in newspapers since his release and has lectured across the country.
After being stripped of his passport last year, Begg denied any involvement in terrorist activity. He claimed to be the victim of a harassment campaign due his work with Cageprisoners, a London-based Muslim NGO that campaigns for the rights of people detained during counterterrorism operations. He told the Mail on Sunday: "I have consistently been asking for the intelligence and security services to be held to account for complicity in torture and rendition. It is more logical that is the reason I've had my passport confiscated."
His arrest come after it was revealed about 400 British-based extremists have gone to Syria over the last two years and just over half have returned to the UK.
Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg one of four arrested on suspicion of terrorism - Telegraph
One has to admire the sheer audacity of Islamists like Begg. On being released from Gitmo on technical grounds, he successfully recast himself as a poster child of the liberal left making thousands from TV appearances, articles in the Guardian etc and won financial compensation from the government for alleged maltreatment whilst brazenly continuing his terrorist activites safe in the knowledge that the toothless secutiry services were powerless to stop him...
Hope they have enough evidence to send this mad animal on a one way ticket to Belmarsh this time..
