Midland Muslims supporting Al-Qaida attacks on troops
Aug 2 2008
MIDLAND Muslims are actively supporting the Taliban and Al-Qaida in attacks on British troops, the former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan has revealed.
Brigadier Ed Butler claims coalition forces have also uncovered evidence that militant Islamic groups in Helmand Province are suspected of assisting terrorist plots in Britain.
Suspicions were raised earlier this year that the Taliban were recruiting increasing numbers of UK [fb01]ghters after RAF experts overheard secret transmissions - spoken in broad Midlands and Yorkshire accents.
Now Brigadier Butler, 46, who led British troops in Helmand Province for six months, claims a growing
number of British-born Muslims are helping the Taliban.
He said: "There are British passport holders who live in the UK who are being found in places like Kandahar.
"There is a link between Kandahar and urban conurbations in the UK.
"This is something the military understands, but the British public does not."
In February Parviz Khan, from Alum Rock, Birmingham, was jailed for life after plotting to kidnap a serving Muslim soldier on a night out on Broad Street.
But Khan, 37, and his gang were grabbed in a swoop by armed anti-terror cops after his home was bugged.
He swiftly admitted the kidnap plot and confessed to shipping £8,000 of warfare gear including laser sights, computer hardware and clothing to terrorists killing our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another £12,000 in cash was sent to his Al-Qaida boss.
Khan's "right hand man" Zahoor Iqbal - a Birmingham council truant officer - was jailed for seven years. A jury convicted him of helping supply the terror equipment.
Two others pleaded guilty to a similar charge. Mohammed Irfan, 31, got four years and Hamid Elasmar, 44, three years and four months.
Britain's top soldier - General Sir Richard Dannatt - slammed the plot as "cowardly and grotesque" as he heaped praise on Britain's Muslim troops.
British troops have been warned to expect to be toiling through the desert plains and mountain passes of Afghanistan for years to come because of the resurgent Taliban.
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2008/08/02/midland-muslims-supporting-al-qaida-attacks-on-troops-66331-21460343/
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