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| Britain |
| Jordanian terror suspect speaks about life under 'house arrest' |
| 2010-06-17 |
| A man judged to be a threat to national security has decided to break his strict bail conditions so he can speak out about the difficulty of his life under virtual house arrest. Hussain Saleh Hussain Alsamamara, a Jordanian living in London, has been filmed over the past six months by two independent film-makers who then passed the material to the BBC's Newsnight programme. The government says Mr Alsamamara is a committed Islamist extremist and a danger to Britain. Almost all of the evidence against him is thought to be intelligence material which neither he nor his lawyers have seen. Mr Alsamamara arrived in Britain in 2001 and claimed asylum. That claim was rejected and in 2004 he was arrested by police and imprisoned, pending deportation to Jordan. The Jordanian intelligence department has told the British government it wants to question him in relation to alleged contact with the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, and over claims that he underwent paramilitary training in Afghanistan. Mr Alsamamara denies any links with terrorism and says he faces torture if he is returned. So what is the nature of the evidence against Mr Alsamamara? Very little is in the public domain but some indications are given in a document published in 2007 by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). Back then, SIAC dismissed his appeal against deportation, largely on the basis of secret intelligence which was excluded from Mr Alsamamara and his lawyers. However, SIAC's judgment does refer to two open strands of evidence. Police found two CDs in a rack on his bedroom floor when they searched his house in 2004. The contents were discussed in closed sessions so we cannot be sure what was on these CDs, but it is likely to be propaganda material. Mr Alsamamara denies any knowledge of these CDs. Police also found a will in an envelope on a notice-board. SIAC said it was written in "lurid terms". It includes references to "jihad" and records his wish "to slaughter" members of the Jordanian government and the police. Mr Alsamamara does not deny writing this will but argues it simply quotes from the Qur'an and the hadiths, and it reflects his natural hatred of the Jordanian authorities who tortured him in the past. SIAC disagreed, stating: "This is the will of an Islamist extremist... it is a declaration by an Islamist extremist that he wishes, if possible, to meet his fate in fighting the enemies of Islam." Newsnight showed the wording to an imam and expert, Dr Usama Hasan. He knows the jihadi mindset, having volunteered as a young man to fight with the Afghan mujahideen. Now he works to counter radicalisation in the UK. Dr Hasan told Newsnight: "This is someone who is clearly inspired by jihadi ideas, what I would call al-Qaeda ideas, and is very passionate about the jihad, going as far as to regard the Muslim governments and police and armies as legitimate targets... not a normal will at all." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Sorry, the headline is a bit misleading. He's a Jordanian terror suspect under house arrest in the UK. I realized that as I was hitting the "submit" button. AoS: Fixed it |
| Posted by: ryuge 2010-06-17 07:45 |