If he's a "beautiful, kind man", why is he killing innocent civilians? He's a monster': Brother of British hostage Alan Henning blasts the Jihadi John apologists who blamed MI5 for radicalising executioner
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2970521/Outrage-group-blames-MI5-radicalising-extremely-kind-Jihadi-John-fled-Syria-kill-people-ISIS.html
- Asim Qureshi helped name his friend Mohammed Emwazi as Jihadi John
- Mr Qureshi said that MI5 had harassed Emwazi and help radicalise him
- Campaigner was tearful as he described him as 'extremely kind and gentle'
- He added that 'the man I knew would never hurt a single person'
- But David Henning hit back and said: 'He's a monster'
- Comments caused fury from people who believe MI5 were doing their job
- CAGE broadcast was on Sky News for 58 minutes without interruption and the BBC showed it for 52 minutes
A
video has surfaced of the Muslim activist who described ISIS executioner
Jihadi John as 'a beautiful man' supporting Jihad at an anti-US rally
in London.
Asim
Qureshi, leader of campaign group CAGE, was filmed urging protesters to
'support the jihad of our brothers and sisters' in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Palestine and Chechnya.
Yesterday,
Qureshi, who helped to name ISIS militant Jihadi John as west London
student Mohammed Emwazi, caused outrage by saying the murderer was
'beautiful' adding that he 'wouldn't hurt a fly'.
But
Reg Henning, brother of British aid worker Alan Henning who died at
Jihadi John's hands, hit back and said: 'If he's a "beautiful, kind
man", why is he killing innocent civilians?
'He's
a monster. Everyone should be doing everything they can to capture him
and bring him to justice - not stick up for him like he's been hard done
by.'
Scroll down for video
Asim Qureshi, leader of campaign group
CAGE, is pictured at a London rally at the height of the Iraq war in
2006 calling for protesters to 'support the jihad of our brothers and
sisters'
Earlier today Qureshi caused outrage
after calling ISIS militant Jihadi John, named today as Mohammed Emwazi,
'beautiful' and saying he 'wouldn't hurt a fly'
Murdered: Aid worker Alan Henning was killed by Jihadi John. His brother Reg described the terrorist as 'a monster'
Speaking
while close to tears at a press conference this afternoon, he blamed
MI5 for radicalising Emwazi, saying the security services harassed him
and alienated him.
In the earlier footage, Qureshi can be seen speaking through a microphone at the pan-Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir movement rally.
He
says: 'When we see the example of our brothers and sisters fighting in
Chechnya, Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan, then we know where the
example lies.
How did he slip through the net? Police and security...
Jihadi John's old university was a 'hotbed of radicalism...
West London radical at centre of network that influenced...
'When we see Hezbollah defeating the armies of Israel, we know where the solution is and where the victory lies.
'We
know that it is incumbent upon all of us, to support the Jihad of our
brothers and sisters in these countries when they are facing the
oppression of the West.
'Allahu Akhbar! Allahu Akhbar! (God is great, God is great!)'
Defence: Asim
Qureshi, research director at the campaign group CAGE, described
Mohammed Emwazi, who is believed to be Jihadi John, as 'extremely kind'
and blamed MI5 for his radicalisation
Qureshi stands alone on a stage in the 54 second clip, shot at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2006.
Qureshi worked for CAGE at the time of his passionate speech, then known as CAGE Prisoners.
The
organisation claims to 'strive for a world free from oppression and
injustice', 'working to empower communities impacted by the War on
Terror.'
However,
the video footage, posted on YouTube, now raises questions about
Qureshi, who alongside former control order detainee Cerie Bullivant
tried to pin the blame for Mohammed Emwazi's radicalisation on the
British Government.
Earlier today Qureshi was branded an ISIS sympathiser as he appeared to launch a defence of Emwazi and his barbaric crimes.
He
said: 'When are we going to finally learn that when we treat people as
if they're outsiders, they are going to feel like outsiders and they
will look for belonging elsewhere.'
Unmasked: ISIS executioner 'Jihadi John' has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi from west London
He also revealed that he'd been in regular contact with Emwazi before he left for Syria.
And
in a second video, in which Qureshi is quizzed by Julian Assange on his
view of Sharia law, in particular stoning, he said: 'I agree with
Islamic concepts of how we practice our punishments.'
Asked
if he believes in the use of the death penalty, he added: 'From an
Islamic perspective, yes. As long as all the due process elements are
met.'
In
the wake of Emwazi's unmasking as the world's most wanted man, CAGE
yesterday released a statement entitled 'Jihadi John: 'Radicalised' By
Britain'.
CAGE SPOKESMAN WALKS OFF LIVE SKY NEWS INTERVIEW
A Cage spokesman walked off a Sky News interview live on air after being asked if he condemned the actions of Jihadi John.
Cerie
Bullivant accused interviewer Kay Burley of asking him 'inherently
xenophobic' questions, to which she replied: ‘Nonsense, get over
yourself.’
Removing his earpiece: Cage spokesman Cerie Bullivant walked off a live Sky News interview
Off he goes: Mr Bullivant accused Kay Burley of asking him 'inherently xenophobic' questions
He
claimed that the security services in Britain have ‘time and again
harassed people and pushed them, and that has played a part in the
radicalisation of this man’.
Mr
Bullivant - who spent two years on a control order designed for
terrorist suspects, but was an innocent man - was then asked by Burley:
‘Do you condemn his actions’
But
he replied, before walking off: ‘I've already said… I'm sorry, I'm not
answering that question, that's a ridiculous question, I’ve already gone
through this and dealt with it.’
After he walked off screen, Burley paused before looking at the camera and smiling.
The
release stated that Emwazi 'desperately wanted to use the system to
change his situation, but the system ultimately rejected him,' a view
later echoed on CAGE's press conference, which was broadcast live on
both BBC and Sky News.
Qureshi
then used the statement to criticise the British security services,
arguing that counter-terror measures turned young Muslims into
extremists.
Haras
Rafiq, managing director of the anti-radicalisation think-tank the
Quilliam Foundation, told Newsweek that CAGE's accusation that Britain
was to blame for Emwazi's radicalisation was 'rubbish'.
He
said: 'It is not anybody else's fault. It's not the British or Kuwaitis
fault. It is his fault and the people who radicalised him. He is a
cold-hearted killer.'
'If
you look at [CAGE's] raison d'être, they are there to defend these kind
of people. There has been evidence that these guys are sympathetic to
this type of ideology.'
Qureshi criticised the British security services, arguing that counter-terror measures turned young Muslims into extremists
In
posts made on Twitter, Quilliam co-founder and chairman Maajid Nawaz,
also blasted CAGE, hinting that Qureshi was a supporter of controversial
speaker, Haitham Haddad.
Emails
released by CAGE today revealed how MI5 repeatedly tried to recruit
Mohammed Emwazi as an informant and put him on a terror watchlist to
stop him leaving Britain.
Emwazi
is believed to have become known to the security services in 2009 when
he was accused of trying to fight with Somali terror group Al-Shabaab in
east Africa.
The
British citizen, who was born in Kuwait and moved to the UK aged six,
flew to Tanzania with two friends after he graduated from the University
of Westminster claiming he was going on safari.
But he was arrested as soon as he touched down in capital Dar es Salaam and deported by Tanzanian's officials.
He
flew back to Britain via Amsterdam and told a friend MI5 were waiting
for him at Schiphol Airport and tried to recruit him to share
information on extremists, Emwazi told a confidant.
Emwazi
claimed that an MI5 agent called Nick accused him of trying to go to
Somalia to fight for Al Shabaab and said: 'Listen Mohammed: You've got
the whole world in front of you; you're 21 years old; you just finished
Uni – why don't you work for us?'.
The
Jihadi John suspect turned down the offer and claims he was told:
'You're going to have a lot of trouble ...you're going to be
known...you're going to be followed...life will be harder for you.'
Emwazi
claimed in emails to Qureshi that he was repeatedly approached by the
security services over the course of the following year but he said he
refused to co-operate and denied he had any links to terrorism.
Hostages
who have survived being held by ISIS in Syria and Iraq have said that
Jihadi John is a man 'obsessed' with Somalia and would make them watch
Al-Shabaab videos while in captivity.
In
June 2010 counter-terrorism officers, linked to the security services
and Scotland Yard, allegedly arrested him as he tried to fly to Kuwait.
He was fingerprinted and searched, it was said, and put on a terror
watchlist preventing him from leaving Britain.
In
an email to Mr Qureshi he said: 'I feel like a prisoner, only not in a
cage, in London. A person imprisoned & controlled by security
service men, stopping me from living my new life in my birthplace &
country, Kuwait'.
Another friend said that Emwazi later tried to travel to Saudi Arabia to teach English in 2012 but again stopped from leaving.
He
was 'desperate' to leave Britain and 'was ready to exhaust every single
kind of avenue within the machinery of the state to bring a change for
his personal situation', Mr Qureshi said.
Mr
Qureshi said he last heard from him that year and said the Jihadi John
supect believed 'actions were taken to criminalize him and he had no way
to do something against these actions'.
Soon afterwards he vanished and is believed to have travelled to Syria, where he may now be ISIS' figurehead.
On the scene: Police officers near the property where Emwazi once lived in Queen's Park, west London
If
Emwazi's account of his contact with MI5 is accurate, his case has
parallels with that of Lee Rigby's murderer Michael Adebolajo, who was
jailed for life in 2013.
His
trial heard that just three months before the appalling murder in
Woolwich, MI5 was trying to recruit Michael Adebolajo as an informant.
He had been on their radar for ten years and in 2010 was even arrested with fellow Al Qaeda followers in Kenya.
Adebolajo
complained of being 'harassed' by MI5 agents before the killing and it
later it emerged that they had failed to watch him carefully enough
before he murdered Drummer Rigby with the help of his friend Michael
Adebowale.
A representative from CAGE was not immediately available for comment when requested.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment