EXCLUSIVE: Labour councillor’s ‘jihad’ son linked to radical Islamic groups
THE Labour councillor’s son arrested for allegedly trying to sneak into Syria was linked to the radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, it emerged yesterday.
Waheed Ahmed, 21, was influenced by the group that advocates the death penalty for gays and adulterers until six months ago when his interests switched to groups in Syria, sources have told the Sunday Express.
He was held last week with eight relatives, including four children, having apparently tried to cross into Syria from a remote Turkish border town.
They are all understood to come from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, where Waheed’s father Shakil Ahmed represents the Kingsway ward on the borough council. The other adult relatives have been named as Zareeda Bi, 47, Maboob Yasin, 22, Habib Yasin, 24, and Samia Bi, 22. The children are aged one, three, eight and 11.
According to a source close to the family, Waheed was being monitored by the Government’s Prevent counter-terror initiative after showing signs of becoming radicalised.
He attended Rochdale Sixth Form College at the same time that Muslim “enrichment learning sessions” were held there by controversial activist Majed Iqbal in July, 2012.
Mr Iqbal has been linked heavily with Hizb ut-Tahrir and gave an interview to BBC Radio Manchester last year in which he said he supported a Muslim caliphate where adulterers would be stoned to death and thieves have their hands hacked off.
The source revealed: “Waheed was in his late teens when he fell in with some supporters of the Hizb ut-Tahrir organisation, which calls for a Muslim caliphate governed by sharia law.
Late last year he began to change his viewpoint a little and started to move away from Hizb ut-Tahrir and headed down the Syria path.
I think [Waheed Ahmed] has been made more extreme by some of his family
“Waheed should never have even been allowed to travel to Turkey as he was known to the Prevent initiative.
“I think he has been made more extreme by some of his family. I saw one relative recently handing out leaflets outside a mosque in Rochdale preaching hatred against the West and calling for a Muslim caliphate.”
Waheed, a politics undergraduate at Manchester University, is to be deported from Turkey within the next couple of days and could face arrest back in Britain.
His father said he had no idea his son had gone abroad and thought he was on a work placement in Birmingham.
Speaking at his home yesterday he denied Waheed was an extremist.
Mr Ahmed said: “My son was never involved with Hizb ut-Tahrir or the Islamic State and was not being monitored by the Government.
“A lot of rubbish has been made up about him. I’m expecting him back soon but until I speak to him, I cannot tell you why he travelled to Turkey.”
A spokeswoman for Rochdale Sixth Form College said yesterday: “We can confirm that Waheed Ahmed attended the college from 2010–2012. No concerns were raised at that time. ”
The Home Office refused to confirm or deny whether Waheed was being monitored by counter-terror experts.
