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Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg among four Britons arrested on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg among four Britons arrested on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism
(about 3 hours later)
British former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg has been arrested on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences. Moazzam Begg, the British former Guantanamo Bay detainee, was one of four people arrested by police in dawn raids on their homes today on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences.
Mr Begg, 45, from Hall Green, in Birmingham, who was held in the US-run military prison in Cuba for nearly three years, is suspected of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas, West Midlands Police said. Father-of-three Mr Begg, 45, from Hall Green in Birmingham is suspected of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas according to West Midlands Police. Counter-terrorism officers also arrested a 44-year-old woman and her son, aged 20, both from Sparkhill, Birmingham, and a 36-year-old man from Shirley, in Solihull, all on suspicion of facilitating terrorism overseas.
A 36-year-old man from Shirley, in Solihull, and a 44-year-old woman and her 20-year-old son, both from Sparkhill, in Birmingham, have also been arrested on suspicion of facilitating terrorism overseas. The homes were searched as vehicles and electronic equipment were removed for forensic analysis while the quartet was taken to a station and questioned.
All four are being held at a police station in the West Midlands, police said, while their three home addresses are being searched by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit. Vehicles and electronic equipment are being removed for forensic analysis. A female family member who answered the door at the address of Mr Begg’s father Azmat, 74, in Sparkhill, said: “His father is a very ill man but we are all aware of what has happened. I was surprised but there’s lots of interest in him because of the Guantanamo link but that was eight years ago now. He’s unfairly marked because of his past.”
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that Moazzam Begg was arrested this morning. A neighbour of Mr Begg said he recently went away for six months and wife Sally, 42, had told her he had gone “somewhere that was having a war.”
"We are confirming this name as a result of the anticipated high public interest to accredited media." The woman, who did not wish to be named, said: “We hadn’t seen him around for a while but nobody knew where he had gone. He was away for a few months. His wife said he had gone for six months. I spoke to her very briefly a few months ago.
She added naming Mr Begg does "not imply any guilt". “She was very friendly. She said it was somewhere where there was a war at the time but she didn’t say where. I said how are you managing with the kids and she said ‘I’m used to it. He goes away a lot with his job’.
Head of investigations for West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, Detective Superintendent Shaun Edwards, said: "All four arrests are connected. They were pre-planned and intelligence led. There was no immediate risk to public safety. “They have a little boy and two teenagers, a boy and a girl. They keep themselves to themselves. He never speaks to anybody, not that I’ve ever seen. They are very quiet. No one had a clue what he does for a living though and she doesn’t work.”
"We continue to urge anyone planning to travel to Syria to read the advice issued by the Foreign Office." Speaking about the raid this morning, she said a car came to take Mr Begg’s children away so officers could search the property.
Originally from Birmingham, Mr Begg moved to Afghanistan with his family in 2001 before taking them to Pakistan in 2002 when the war began. A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said that naming Mr Begg does “not imply any guilt”. She said: “We can confirm that Moazzam Begg was arrested this morning. We are confirming this name as a result of the anticipated high public interest to accredited media.”
He was detained in Islamabad, Pakistan, as an "enemy combatant" in January 2002 and was taken to the Bagram internment centre for about a year before being transferred to Guantanamo. Detective Superintendent Shaun Edwards, Head of Investigations for West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “All four arrests are connected. They were pre-planned and intelligence led. There was no immediate risk to public safety. We continue to urge anyone planning to travel to Syria to read the advice issued by the Foreign Office.”
The British citizen was released along with three others in January 2005 and was allowed to return to the UK where he was arrested by the police before being released without charge. Originally from Birmingham, Mr Begg moved to Afghanistan with his family in 2001 before taking them to Pakistan the following year when the war began. He was detained in Islamabad as an “enemy combatant” in January 2002 and was taken to the Bagram internment centre for about a year before being transferred to Guantanamo.
Mr Begg, now a director of campaign group Cage, has always maintained that he was only involved in charity business and that he has never been involved in any kind of terrorist activity. He was held on the US-run military prison for nearly three years until January 2005 when he was released without charge by then President George Bush. Although arrested by British police on his return to the UK he was later released without charge and subsequently claimed he had been tortured in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Begg wrote about his travels to Syria in a publicly-available blog entry dated December 24 2013 on the Cage website. Mr Begg has made a number of visits to Syria in recent months where he has met prisoners of the Assad regime as well as refugees of the civil war. As well as witnessing British aid being brought in, he claimed he also met British fighters.
In July 2012, Mr Begg wrote, he visited Syria and met former prisoners who had been held by the Assad regime. Mr Begg, now a director of campaign group Cage, has always maintained that he was only involved in charity business and that he has never been involved in any kind of terrorist activity. He blogged about his travels to Syria in an article published on the Cage website on Christmas Eve.
In a second visit made at some point after October 2012, he met current and former prisoners and also visited refugee camps. Around 250 British-based extremists who went to train and fight in Syria have returned to the UK. Ministers have been told that over the past two years more than 400 Britons have gone to Syria and it is now thought just over half have returned.
As well as witnessing British aid being brought in, he claimed he also met British fighters. In January alone, 16 people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences related to Syria compared with 24 arrests in the whole of last year. The Birmingham arrests follow reports of British-based jihadist Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, staging a suicide attack on a Syrian government prison in the country earlier this month.
Around 250 British-based extremists who went to train and fight in Syria have returned to the UK, it has emerged.
Ministers have been told that over the past two years more than 400 Britons have gone to Syria and it is now thought just over half have returned.
In January alone, 16 people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences related to Syria compared with 24 arrests in the whole of last year.
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