Posted on 09/08/2006 3:44:17 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Government grants totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds were handed out to Muslim organisations infiltrated by the July 7 suicide bombers.
Huge chunks of taxpayers' money were given to four Leeds-based institutions that were the haunts of ring-leader Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer.
Grants ranging from a few hundred pounds to £200,000 were made in Beeston, the bombers' home territory where three of the four 7/7 bombers lived.
The money came from funds intended to regenerate the area but suspicions persist that some of the cash may have been diverted to recruit and train the home-grown terrorists who killed 52 people in last year's attacks.
The Iqra Islamic bookshop - where hate-filled DVDs glorifying suicide bombers were produced - was one recipient.
Leeds Community School, which shared the same building with the radical bookstore, obtained a grant of over £106,000 for 'staffing and construction costs.'
The 'al-Qaeda gym' in the basement of a nearby mosque used by Edgware Road bomber Khan,30, was also equipped with money provided by Leeds City Council.
The Hamara youth centre, raided by police after the four men blew themselves and where Khan's inner circle met, received two £200,000 grants for building costs and an £189,000 EU building grant.
Details of the government financing emerged during research for a Channel 4 documentary, Cult of the Suicide Bomber.
The programme, produced and directed by terror expert Kevin Toolis, is broadcast on Monday - the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
It contains an interview with IT worker Martin Gilbertson, whose expertise was sought by the four interconnected institutions in Beeston - the Iqra, Leeds Community School, the gym and the Hamara Youth Access Point, an offshoot of a mainstream Muslim community centre nearby.
The 45 year old computer expert claims he tried to warn police about the July 7 bombers two years before the suicide attacks on London.
He first encountered the bombers at a party in Beeston to celebrate the September 11 attacks and worked alongside Khan and Tanweer, the 22 year old Aldgate bomber, while helping to produce DVDs and provide IT support.
Mr Gilbertson worked alongside Khan and Tanweer at the book shop and youth centre. Between 2001 and 2004 he was commissioned to make graphic DVD 'presentations' which showed children in Iraq and Palestinian territories mutilated or killed by American or Israeli forces.
The DVDs contributed to what he called the 'atmosphere conducive to the bombers' in Beeston but when he became so alarmed by what was going on he went to the police.
The computer expert says youth worker Khan and Tanweer were regular visitors to the Iqra book shop and Hamara Youth Access Point. He says both bombers were part of the Mullah Crew, a local gang which used to train at the locally-known 'al-Qaeda' gym which was linked to the nearby bookshop.
Mr Gilbertson said he posted DVDs, confidential information and a list of names to police but was never called. After the July 7 attacks he contacted police again and was interviewed three times.
Both Iqra and the Leeds Community School were registered as charities but neither have filed accounts. The school has been taken over by a Discount Decorator firm and the Iqra bookshop is closed.
The 'al - Qaeda gym' where Khan worked out is shuttered and the Hamara Youth Access Point is hidden behind a blue metal gate. There is no evidence to implicate any of the workers at Iqra or the Hamara centre in the July 7 plot.
Cult of the Suicide Bomber. Channel 4, 8pm September 11.
This is what happens when the Liberals hand out money to buy support and appeasment. It's rampant in the USA, also, and until the government gets out of the wealth redistribution business, and the "poitically correct" B.S. of catering to minorities, we will ALWAYS have this problem.
Stupid liberal giveaway crap always comes back to bite somebody on the butt. Wonder if there is any terrorist infiltration into the former city of New Orleans. Great place to get some easy money and there is a dumbass state and city governmet there to turn a blind eye.
Don't worry po folk....dat storm not gonna hit here. Forget dem buses. Terrorist storm on the horizon????
Well, they need to learn that lesson and be more discretionary with their grants from now on.
who is that?
The guy who jumps around on TV commercials with Question marks on his outfit yelling about free money from the government. (Buy my book)
Ok that is funny. and sad
That sounds like a wry crack Ann Coulter could use in her next column. Very clever
I should have included more comment.
I'm all for "faith communities" doing all nature of good.
I really can see the good impulse behind wanting to give them governmental
breaks/incentives to do tough work like helping the homeless, drug addicts
and ex-cons, etc.
But this sort of story just shows "the devil in the details" when
the money from the state treasury gets diverted for base purposes.
Infiltrated? Not so sure about that. "Infiltrated" implies that the groups have different agendas than those of the terrorists...
I meant my previous post as a sincere compliment of your wit
Islam should be considered a terrorist organization and expelled from any country back to the Islamic paradise of their choice.
How do you take ANY of them seriously when NONE of them condemn the terrorism OR DO ANYTHING TO HELP STOP IT?
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