An imam dealing in illegal arms? Didn’t he find such activity to be in conflict with the peaceful teachings of his religion that David Cameron and John Kerry and Pope Francis and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are so sure are paramount?
“Wrexham imam Abdurraouf Eshati jailed over Libyan arms plot,” BBC, October 27, 2015:
A Libyan man who lived at a mosque in Wrexham and sometimes led prayers as an imam has been jailed for six years after admitting his part in a network plotting an £18.6m arms deal.
Abdurraouf Eshati admitted collecting information for terrorist purposes.
The 29-year-old was sentenced at London’s Old Bailey over the bid to get arms to the war-torn country.
The charge related to two documents on the purchase of ammunition and cargo plane hire.
Judge John Bevan QC said on Tuesday: “It’s obvious that his involvement means that it was felt he could be trusted as a confidant in relation to large-scale arms supply.”
Forger’s kitEshati was due to stand trial on Monday but changed his plea.
The court was told electronic documents found outlined a plan to send 1,100 tonnes of ammunition to Libya, via a contact in Italy, in support of the Zintan people of the eastern region.
During their investigation, police searched Eshati’s room at Wrexham Islamic Cultural Centre where they found a number of letter-headed documents which were blank, apart from a stamp and a signature which the prosecution said was a forger’s kit.
It is understood Eshati lived at the mosque and would occasionally lead prayers when no one else was available but he did not take any of the main prayer meetings.
Eshati was caught trying to get to France in the back of a lorry with 19 other people at the port of Dover in Kent on 30 November, last year.
On his mobile phone, police found an invoice from an arms supplier for the sale and delivery of ammunition to Tobruk in Libya and a document about chartering a cargo jet for £163,000 for use in Libya.
Eshati also had images on his phone of militia group activists, a beheading and armaments in action which, the prosecution said, showed his allegiance to the Zintan people.
On his arrest, he told police he had been in Britain since 2009 on a visa and later as an asylum seeker.
Eshati said his father had been a senior figure in the Gaddafi regime and was now in prison in Tripoli while his two brothers had been murdered. This, however, was a false claim.
On Monday, he admitted seeking leave to remain in the UK by deception on or before 14 December 2012, by falsely claiming he was at risk of persecution if returned to Libya.
Dr Ikram Shah from the Wrexham Islamic and Cultural Centre said in a statement the members want to disassociate themselves from Eshati’s actions and added they feel betrayed by what he has done….
Of course. So very much betrayal of this kind.

mortimer says
UK politicians still don’t get it…Islam is theocratic fascism whose political goal is world conquest through violence.
Ayatollah Khomeini rebuked the Islam-is-a-religion-of-peace crowd:
“Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by [the unbelievers]? Islam says: Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter [their armies]….Islam says: Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of other ayahs and hadiths urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all this mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.”
-Ayatollah Khomeini
…but the cultural Marxists in their credulous simplicity believe Islam is a NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLE…so they discount the correct analysis that Islam is THEOCRATIC FASCISM.
Noel Eliscu says
six year free room and board and a chance to convert fellow animals to the religion of hate. He should be deported when he gets out.
cs says
Should be a longer sentence plus deportation, or life sentence instead.
cs says
Actually be shot on spot would be a much better solution, now we have to pay for his miserable existence, and it is damn expensive and undeserved. Should be parachuted in the Libyan desert perhaps.
Noel Eliscu says
With a life sentence one has his whole life to convert prisoners unless he is segregated and cannot interact with others
mortimer says
RADICAL ISLAMIC CHIC is prevalent among the Muslim youth, but police, teachers and social workers who OBSERVE IT are not permitted to speak about it…even though they witness it daily!
Abdurraouf Eshati is an example of radical Islamic chic popular among Muslim youth, but denounced by the elders who are cowardly because they are attached to their worldly goods and families and put them before their well-known duty to CONDUCT JIHAD against the dirty kufaar.
The Muslim youth understand Islam correctly…literally…while their elders are betraying Islam through cowardice and HYPOCRISY.
Angemon says
Good – he can be sent back. Not that it should matter – if he’s a foreign citizen and he’s a risk to native citizens he should be sent back to wherever he crawled from, risk of life or not.
Evolution says
6 years ? That’ll show him.
He won’t convert other people to islam while in prison, and he would have learnt his lesson by the time he gets out.
Maybe crime does pay after all ?
Karen says
Yes, I’m sure the mosque had no idea what Eshati was up to. (One moment please while I convulse with laughter.)
Is he wearing a clip-on beard? Poor loser….
Jeff says
Every time I see these guys with beards sans mustaches. I want a bowl of lucky charms. Clip on beard? That had me going hard with a good belly laugh Karen. Awesome site, been reading it all night. Lots of great witty and informative comments. I’m hooked now. Another really good laugh was the jihad is for weight loss. Didn’t catch who said it but thanks for a great laugh.
Karen says
Jeff, sending you some 4 leaf clovers! 🙂