The twice-acquitted Mostafa: third time’s a charm?
Faisal Mostafa has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Manchester Polytechnic. But — but — I thought poverty caused terrorism!
More on this story. “Police swoop on British man accused of running arms factory ‘orphanage’ as deadly weapons cache is revealed,” by Fay Schlesinger for the Daily Mail, March 26 (thanks to Pamela):
A British man accused of running an orphanage which was really a front for a terrorist training camp has been arrested by police in Bangladesh.
Dr Faisal Mostafa, who has twice been acquitted of bomb plots in the UK, was picked up in the capital city Dhaka.
Police said they had also arrested a man identified only as Badl, who is alleged to be his ‘agent’ in Bangladesh.
Captain Shafiul Alam, of the Rapid Action Battalion, said: ‘They were both arrested yesterday.
‘They are being charged with illegally keeping arms, explosives and ammunition, and with militancy and terrorism.’
Four people, a teacher and three caretakers, have already been arrested after explosives were seized at the orphanage, which is operated by British charity Green Crescent.
Mostafa ran the organisation, which provided humanitarian aid to families in Bangladesh and Pakistan….
Mostafa, who has a PhD in chemistry from Manchester Polytechnic, was known to security forces in Britain, having been cleared of conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life at Birmingham Crown Court in 2002.
Six years earlier, he had been cleared at Manchester Crown Court of involvement in a bomb plot campaign.
In July last year he was caught at Manchester Airport trying to board a plane to Bangladesh with a pistol and bullet parts in his luggage.
Ah, but he was no doubt on a mission of peace.
The father-of-three was given a suspended sentence. On Monday Bangladeshi security forces raided the orphanage Mostafa set up and the attached Muslim school on the remote island of Bhola in South Bangladesh.
Lieutenant Colonel Munir Haque, from the Rapid Action Battalion, said: ‘We found small arms – about nine or 10 in total – plus equipment to make small arms, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, two walkie-talkies, two remote control devices and four sets of army uniforms.
‘We also found enough explosives and other equipment to make several hundred grenades. We found some ordinary Islamic books, but others that are in line with extremists like Bin Laden.’
I’d like to see how they made that distinction.
He said there were 11 children between the ages of 7 and 8 at the compound.
K M Mamunur Rashid, another officer in the raid, said: ‘It is a big Madrassa and we have so far gathered that this whole compound is being used for militant training.’
Mostafa’s father, speaking from his home in Stockport, last night strongly denied that his son had any involvement in terrorism. The 73-year-old, who did not want to be named, said: ‘This is all an exaggeration.
‘He just wants to help children. He is a British citizen and has been in this country since 1969.’…
Of course. He just wants to help children. He is the salt of the earth. This is what we invariably hear from the friends and relatives of those arrested for jihad activity. One day a Muslim relative of an accused jihadist will say, “He’s guilty as hell. He was always railing about how much he hated the kuffar” — and I will faint dead away.
But actually, that day will never come, because the displacement of responsibility and utter denial of any wrongdoing is a staple of the jihadist program.
A spokesman for counter-terrorism think-tank Quilliam Foundation said: ‘If Green Crescent has been involved in militant activity, this will reflect very poorly on the Charity Commission, particularly given that Mostafa, the head of the charity, had previously been put on trial twice for terrorist offences.
‘Ineffectiveness by the Charity Commission in identifying and tackling extremist charities leads to the British taxpayer directly subsiding militancy.’
Uh, yeah.