Terror recruitment chiefs jailed

12 April 2012

The two ringleaders of a British al Qaida-style terrorist recruitment and training cell have been jailed.

Mohammed Hamid and Atilla Ahmet groomed impressionable young Muslim men to fight jihad against non-believers.

Hamid, 50, who organised brain-washing talks at his home in east London and training camps around the UK, was jailed indefinitely with a minimum term of seven-and-a-half years.

Ahmet, 44, the self-styled "emir" of the gang and a former senior aide of Abu Hamza, was jailed for six years and 11 months at Woolwich Crown Court.

A jury heard how street preacher Hamid aspired to send his recruits on to further training in Afghanistan or east Africa.

He was found guilty of organising terrorist training in the New Forest and at a Berkshire paintballing centre as well as soliciting murder.

Ahmet, 44, of London, admitted three counts of soliciting murder. He was secretly recorded encouraging other young Muslim men to kill in the name of Islam.

The jury heard that several of the July 21 failed bombers, including ringleader Muktar Said Ibrahim, were among Hamid's followers.

Hamid, of Hackney, east London, was found guilty on two counts of providing terrorist training and three counts of soliciting murder.

One senior police source said afterwards officers will never know whether Hamid and Ahmet intended their followers to attack targets in the UK or overseas.

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