UK: Family of Jihadist wants tougher action

UK: Family of Jihadist wants tougher action

Via the Telegraph:

Awais Arshad, whose brother Umar, absconded from a control order, said police should have acted more quickly to stop him leaving the country.

He accused the police of “gross negligence" in failing to stop his brother and added: "How could he still be allowed to leave the country I do not know.”

Mr Arshad’s comments will add to the controversy currently surrounding control orders, which is threatening to split the coalition after pledges made by the Liberal Democrats to scrap them.

The Muslim community is often thought to be against the orders but Umar Arshad’s family actually contacted the police themselves asking them to stop him leaving.

He is one of seven people who have absconded after being placed under the orders, a loose form of house arrest. Most are thought to have left the country and join al-Qaeda.

(source)

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UK: Police warn far right marches radicalize Muslims

UK: Police warn far right marches radicalize Muslims



Via Reuters:

Demonstrations by far right groups like the English Defence League (EDL) act like recruiting sergeants for Islamic militants across Britain, the head of a regional counter terrorism unit said on Friday.

Detective Superintendent John Larkin from West Midlands police said EDL marches and counter-demonstrations often ended in violence, with evidence they end up pushing some members of the community towards radicalisation.

"In some areas, we have evidence that once they have gone ... there's fertile ground for those groups (to say) 'this is the way white Western society sees us,'" he told BBC Radio.

"And that's a potential recruiting carrot for people and that's what some of these radicalisers look for -- they look for the vulnerability, for the hook to pull people through and when the EDL have been and done what they've done, they perversely leave that behind."

He said it was especially true if high-profile demos ended in the destruction of Muslim property or violence against community members.

(source)