Preacher found guilty of organising terror training camps
Mohammed Hamid convicted over terror recruitment camps
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Tuesday, 26, Feb 2008 08:39
Mohammed Hamid, believed to be one of the most important Islamist extremism recruiters in the UK, has been found guilty of organising terrorist training camps.
Hamid, 50, of east London, was found guilty of training men at camps in the Lake District and New Forest at Woolwich crown court today.
Atilla Ahmet, 43, who is believed by police to one of the major ringleaders at the camps, was also found guilty of soliciting murder.
Three men, believed to be Hamid's followers, Kiblet da Costa, 25, Mohammed al-Figari, 45, and Kader Ahmed, 20, were found guilty of attending the training camps.
Hamid, who in the past boasted of being "Osama bin London", is believed by police to have played a crucial role in grooming young men for terrorism and training overseas.
The preacher was found guilty of three counts of murder and three counts of providing terrorism training.
The jury in the trial found him not guilty of providing weapons at the camps and cleared him of two counts of soliciting murder.
Two further followers of Hamid Mohammed Kyriacou, 19, and Yassin Mutegombwa, 23, admitted to attending terrorist training camps while another man, Mousa Brown, 41, was cleared of receiving and providing training.
Mobile phone footage found at one of the addresses searched after the men were first arrested proved crucial in securing their convictions.
Amongst those who attended Hamid's training camps were the four failed London suicide bombers of July 21st 2005.
The court heard how Hamid and the leader of the bombings, Muktar Ibrahim, maintained close links and preached from the same stall in central London in 2004.
Police claim that it was Ahmet and Hamid who were the real force behind recruiting potential terrorists.
Peter Clarke, the Metropolitan police's counterterrorism chief, said: "Hamid and Ahmet are dangerous people, who between them carried out the recruitment, grooming and terrorist training of young men.
"This was not innocent activity taking place on a camping weekend," he said.
"Hamid's links to men convicted of carrying out the 21/7 attempted bombings in London shows the depth of his involvement in terrorism."
The crown prosecution service claimed the verdict was a landmark ruling and said it should act as a warning to others.
"The verdicts in this case should act as a warning to those who would recruit, train and urge others to kill innocent people, no matter what the perceived cause, that the CPS will continue to prosecute terrorism cases with vigour," said Deborah Wales deputy head of the counterterrorism division.