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Link to West Yorkshire, home of the 7/7 bombers
Rashid Razaq28 Nov 2008
WEST YORKSHIRE has previously been linked to Islamist terrorists with three of the 7/7 bombers hailing from the county.
Aldgate bomber Shehzad Tanweer, 22, and Tavistock Square bus bomber Hasib Hussain, 18, came from the Beeston suburb of Leeds, while ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan lived in nearby Dewsbury.
With a large, isolated Muslim population, the areas have been identified as an incubator for fundamentalism among second and third-generation children of Pakistani immigrants. The London attacks in 2005 were the first instance of home-grown suicide bombers and led the Met's counter-terrorism operation to shift focus to inner-city suburbs and former mill towns.
Last August a West Yorkshire schoolboy who possessed a guide to making napalm on his computer and notes on martyrdom under his bed, became Britain's youngest convicted terrorist.
Hammaad Munshi of Dewsbury was 16 and taking his GCSEs when he was arrested for making plans that could have aided a terrorist attack. He was convicted at the Old Bailey alongside Aabid Khan, 23, who was said to be central in radicalising people. He had recruited Munshi at 15 and Sultan Muhammad, who was described as Khan's "right hand man".
Khan, of Bradford, was found guilty of possessing articles connected with terrorism. Muhammad, of Manningham, West Yorkshire, was convicted of three similar charges and one of making a record of information likely to be useful in terrorism. A fourth defendant, Ahmed Sulieman, 30, from south London, was cleared of three charges of possession after telling the court the files did not belong to him.
The trial heard that Munshi, who was arrested on his way home from school, spent hours surfing jihadist websites. He was sentenced to two years in a young offender institution.
Reader views (3)
Start the deportations and lets rid this country of foriegn extremists. The UK has been too nice and trusting with its immigration policies; its time to close the door.
- Branson Thomas, London UK, 30/11/2008 15:54
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West Yorkshire is like 'little Islamabad'. How can a country develop such a cancerous fifth column inside it in so short a time. It needs excising right now.
- Squiz, Islington, 28/11/2008 21:50
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Shows how effective our intelligence services are!
It really is about time the community stood up and be held accountable for these atrocities.
- Harvey Lawrence, london, 28/11/2008 16:39
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