Counterterrorism Blog

Yesterday, in response to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times implicating Pakistani earthquake relief funds in the latest airliner bomb plot in Great Britain, Abdullah Muntazir--a prominent spokesman for the Islamic militant organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa (a.k.a. Lashkar-e-Taiba)--denied playing any role in the plot and further insisted that the group is "totally based in Pakistan" and has no presence abroad in the United Kingdom, nor does it collect money in Europe.

While it remains to be seen exactly how Jamaat-ud-Dawa funds played into the latest UK terror plot, there is ample and undeniable evidence that the group has been actively raising funds and recruiting in Western Europe and North America. What is even more ironic/humorous about Muntazir's current denials is that previously--in an inexplicable contradiction--he has openly acknowleged that LeT/Jamaat-ud-Dawa recruited British nationals of South Asian descent and trained them in jihad tactics. The following is an excerpt from an expert witness report I submitted earlier this year on behalf of British Crown Prosecutors in the criminal case of Regina v. Mohammed Ajmal Khan, Palvinder Singh, et al. (Snaresbrook Court):

In order to obtain advanced military technology and to recruit Westernized operatives, LeT has relied upon a global network of militants and supporters—with primary focus on North America and the United Kingdom. In the spring of 2003 alone, a Pakistani journalist reported that LeT had successfully raised over ₤13 million from Pakistani Muslims in the United Kingdom “in the name of Eid sacrifice.” During a 1999 interview with a U.K. journalist, LeT spokesman Abdullah Muntazir admitted that British Muslims—primarily of Kashmiri and Pakistani origin—were also joining LeT and receiving “military training” for the purposes of Jihad. Muntazir boasted, “We have Muslim volunteers from all over the world coming to join the jihad.”

On December 9, 1998, the U.K. Secretary of State issued a letter to U.K.-resident and Pakistani national Imam Shafiq Ur Rehman ordering his deportation from Great Britain as a result of Rehman’s “involve[ment] with an Islamic terrorist organisation Markaz Dawa al Irshad (MDI)… your continued presence in this country represents a danger to national security… [and your deportation] would be conducive to the public good in the interests of national security because of your association with Islamic terrorist groups.” Originally from Mian Channu, Pakistan, Rehman was able to enter the United Kingdom in February 1993 after being cleared to work as a Muslim cleric with the local branch of the Ahl-e-Hadith movement in Oldham. According to the U.K. Secretary of State, Rehman thereafter served as the “United Kingdom point of contact” for MDI—described by the secretary as an “Islamic extremist organisation whose mujahidin fighters are known as the ‘Lashkar Taiyyaba.’” Furthermore, according to British authorities, Rehman was involved in the recruitment of at least seven British Muslim volunteers “to undergo military training and in fund-raising” for LeT and was a “personal contact of [Hafiz] Mohammad Saeed, the world-wide leader of MDI and LT.” A statement from the British government explained:

“…while Ur Rehman and his United Kingdom based followers are unlikely to carry out any acts of violence in this country, his activities directly support terrorism in the Indian subcontinent and are likely to continue unless he is deported… The Security Service is concerned that the presence of returned jihad trainees in the UK may encourage the radicalisation of the British Muslim community. [Rehman’s] activities in the United Kingdom are intended to further the cause of a terrorist organisation abroad.”

For his part, Imam Shafiq Ur Rehman vigorously denied supporting terrorist organizations; however, he did admit to attending and speaking at an MDI conference in Pakistan and raising money for MDI-sponsored “educational and welfare projects in Pakistan.” Though a U.K. appeals court found certain irregularities in Mr. Rehman’s case, the same court nonetheless concluded that it was “undisputed” that Rehman “has provided sponsorship, information and advice to persons going to Pakistan for the forms of training which may have included militant or extremist training.”

Similarly, other British fundamentalist movements have stepped forward to help recruit and fundraise for Lashkar-e-Taiba and MDI. One such organization is the now-defunct Global Jihad Fund (GJF), established in London during the mid-1990s by notorious Saudi dissident Dr. Mohammed al-Massari and his assistant Mohammed Sohail. GJF maintained a relatively sophisticated fundraising network in the London metropolitan area for the purpose of aiding international Islamic “holy warriors” (including “Sheikh Mujahid Osama bin Laden”) in such places as Bosnia, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Kosovo, and Chechnya. The group encouraged British Muslims outside of London to “Start a Jihad Support Network in your city… don’t be afraid of [the tyranny of the infidels].” One section of the GJF Internet website, titled “Jihad Support Networks,” suggested that British Muslims should “send[] your donations directly to the Jihad Orgs in Potentially Hot Countries” and provided detailed bank account information for LeT, described as an “organization[] working in Afghanistan/Kashmir.” In intercepted e-mail conversations with other British Muslims in 1999, Global Jihad Fund organizer Mohammed Sohail explained, “Currently jihad training is being done in Muzzaffarabad in Pakistan. It is on[ly] for 21 days and is of beginners level. It is organised by Lashkar-e-Toiba... Then there are special courses. If anyone wants to go to Afghanistan. I can also do this by arrangement.”

Responding to reports of British Muslims traveling for jihad in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Azzam Publications—a prominent London-based Arab-Afghan support organization—insisted in a press release, “[w]e cannot and do not discourage any Muslim from going to render assistance to Muslims” in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but further warned potential British Islamist recruits only to join “real mujahideen.” The document concluded, “[t]here are many… [legitimate] ways to get to Afghanistan and many… groups in Pakistan, such as… Lashkar Tayyibah.” Likewise, in February 2000, the U.K.-based Islamic militant organization Al Muhajiroun led by Shaykh Omar Bakri Mohammed issued a press release, resolving:

“The war of the Muslims in Israel and its neighbouring lands is our war and we will continue to fight against the enemies of Islam, we will continue to raise funds for the Jihad and we will continue to recruit for the Jihad wherever the Muslims are, whether in the UK, US, France, Germany or any other country. The Islamic Movements such as Al-Muhajiroun amongst others and the Mujahideen network… [including] Lashkare e Taiba… and many others have kept alive the struggle… We call upon the Muslim armies to fight along side the Mujahideen, fight with the army of Islam against army of [the infidels].”