Counterterrorism Blog

Experts and government officials have long debated the real nature of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT). Formed in 1953 in Jerusalem, the group has now established a presence in virtually all continents. It defines itself as a “political party whose ideology is Islam” and openly seeks the restoration of the Caliphate as its main goal. The debate has always been on whether HT is a movement that simply aims at peacefully propagating its message, a "conveyor belt" for extremism, or a group directly employing violence. In many Muslim countries, particularly in Central Asia (see this report from the Uzbek government, for example) and the Middle East, the group is banned and authorities accuse it of direct links to acts of terror. HT members, on the other hand, have constantly denied their involvement in any violent act. “We consider that Islamic law forbids violence or armed struggle against the regime as a method to re-establish the Islamic State,” states the website of HT’s British branch (one of its largest).

The debate has been particularly lively in Europe, where HT has a relatively large following. Is HT an organization that, while advocating extremist ideas, acts within the limits of the law (depending, of course, on the different laws on freedom of speech of each country), or is there something more than meets the eye? Is HT involved in violent acts? HT books, tapes and flyers have often been found in possession of jihadists arrested throughout Europe. This, to be sure, confirms only the obvious ideological affinity between HT and groups that adopt violence, but not does not indicate any sort of operational overlap between the two.

Yet, evidence emerging from recent Italian judicial documents possibly reveals a deeper connection between HT and jihadist networks. First, some documents indicate that former Milan resident Mohamed Morgan had been one of the leaders of HT in Italy. Morgan had also been under investigation for his role in a network that was recruiting aspiring jihadists throughout Europe for Iraq and for his connections with Abu Omar, the Milan imam famously “renditioned” by the CIA in February 2003. Morgan left Italy in September 2003 and was later arrested in Egypt, even though some reports indicate that he was himself “renditioned” by the CIA to Egypt.

More tellingly, the November 2007 indictment of a large cell recruiting for Iraq out of Northern Italy shows interesting links between the network and HT. While many of the names and details of the indictment cannot be publicly disclosed, authorities put together an impressive amount of evidence on such links. Particularly interesting is a November 2004 meeting that took place in the apartment of Imed H., a Tunisian residing in Lainate, on the outskirts of Milan. Police identified 26 men, most of them North Africans, who attended the gathering.

The mix is quite interesting. Several of the men had been identified by Italian, German and French authorities as top or mid-level HT members, leading Italian authorities to label the gathering as an HT leadership meeting. But, interestingly, some of the participants at the Lainate meeting were the men behind the network that recruited for Iraq, including one of its ringleaders, Tunisian national Mehdi Ben Naser. As the investigation progressed, authorities put together a picture of virtual symbiosis between the HT structure in Italy and such jihadist network, leading authorities to speak of HT as an organization operating at a “double level,” where the political wing operates under the sun and the military wing operates secretly, not differently from groups such as ETA or the IRA.

Italian authorities’ findings are very interesting, as they seem to cast doubt on the image of HT as a radical yet non-violent group. There are no indications that such alleged “double level” is the modus operandi of all branches of HT throughout Europe, even though many of the people who attended the Lainate meeting had solid ties with/lived in/had spent extensive time in other European countries. While Germany is the only European country to have banned HT (by decree of the Federal Ministry of Interior in 2003, decision appealed by HT and confirmed by a court in 2006), intelligence agencies throughout the continent have been monitoring its activities with attention. The fear of a “double level” should only heighten such vigilance.