Government is ‘picking and choosing' who it helps
But the mentor only had one meeting with him and his case was closed. A review into Prevent this week found it could have missed chances to turn Harbi Ali away from terrorism.
We spoke to Sir David Amess's daughter, Katie Amess.
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Spectator
10 hours ago
- Spectator
What France's fight against Islamism can teach Labour
So far this year France has deported 64 individuals from its database of radical Islamists. More are planned in the coming weeks and months, putting the minister of the interior, Bruno Retailleau, on course to surpass last year's total of 142. A senior unnamed prefect was quoted in yesterday's Le Figaro declaring: We are very committed to this issue; it is an ongoing effort by the state, given what is at stake. It is even monitored weekly by the (interior) minister at the central level. Retailleau is supported by his predecessor, Gérald Darmanin, who has been the Minister of Justice since last December. It was Darmanin who last year commissioned a report into the Muslim Brotherhood, a report that, when published in May this year, revealed the disturbing extent of their growing influence in the country. The government of France considers that the rights of the victims are the priority When Darmanin ran the interior ministry, his chief of staff was Alexandre Brugère. He has been the prefect for western Paris since November last year and in that time he has been relentless in prioritising 'the deportation of undocumented foreigners who disturb public order'. Brugère has this year expelled 370 undesirables, a 61 per cent increase on the same period in 2024. Some are petty criminals or members of drug cartels but most are radical Islamists. Last month Brugère expelled four such individuals, including a Syrian who had his refugee status revoked after expressing support for the Islamic State. Brugère has promised to remain 'extremely firm in the fight against Islamism', conscious of the gravity of the threat posed by extremism. This was underlined earlier this year by Céline Berthon, the head of DGSI, France's equivalent of MI5. 'Our biggest challenge today is online radicalization,' she said in an interview in March, explaining how individuals 'can be influenced or controlled from outside, particularly by terrorist organizations present either in Syria and Iraq for the Islamic State, or in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Islamic State in Khorasan.' A similar warning was issued by MI5 Director General Ken McCallum last October. 'We're also seeing far too many cases where very young people are being drawn into poisonous online extremism,' said McCallum in a speech from the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre. The division of MI5's counter-terrorist work, he added, was 'roughly 75 per cent Islamist extremist, 25 per cent extreme right-wing terrorism'. Doubtless MI5 is working as tirelessly as its French counterpart to monitor the Islamic extremists, but what is being done by the government? If Labour has deported any Islamic extremists flagged by MI5 they haven't been made public, which is perhaps surprising given the Prime Minister's oft-mentioned determination to clamp down on the extreme right. Last week, it was announced that members of the government's national security and online information team (NSOIT) have been tracking people who make critical comments online about migrant hotels and policing standards. It is the same team deployed during the Covid Pandemic to keep tabs on anti-lockdown campaigners. While Labour appears less ardent in its monitoring of Islamic extremism, the Tories can't claim to have done a great job either during their time in office. In April 2024 there was a pledge to introduce legislation to 'protect the public from…foreign nationals who are sowing division and spreading hate in communities, potentially having them removed from the country.' Why so long? In 2017 – after seven years of Tory governance – it was reported that since 2004 Britain had deported 11 extremists; in the same period France had expelled 120. The Conservatives' promise to finally act came to naught; three months later, they were out of office, replaced by a government led by Keir Starmer. This is the same Keir Starmer who, as a barrister in 2008, represented the Palestinian-born Abu Qatada as he fought a deportation order to Jordan where he was wanted on charges of terrorism. Among Qatada's many incendiary declarations was a 1999 fatwa 'authorising the killing of Jews, including Jewish children'. Often described as Osama bin Laden's 'ambassador in Europe, Qatada sought to remain in Britain because – as Starmer told the judge – 'deportation and the revocation of refugee status both interfere with domestic civil rights'. The judge dismissed Starmer's argument as 'fallacious' but it took another five years before the government overcame the Human Rights lawyers and finally deported Qatada. Starmer's role in defending Abu Qatada was a line of attack for Rishi Sunak in last year's televised election debates. The morning after the debate, the Labour party issued a statement in which they said: 'In this country, everyone is entitled to a defence, which means lawyers cannot choose who they work for.' This line of argument was addressed by Bruno Retailleau in October last year, a month after he was appointed Minister of the Interior. 'In the face of disorder, we must find the right balance between protecting individual freedoms and protecting society,' he said. He then singled out the European Court of Human Rights, which had recently prevented France from deporting an Islamist and said in such a case 'the balance is no longer right, as we are protecting the rights of dangerous individuals more than those of the victims'. Retailleau and the government of France consider that the rights of the victims are the priority and that dangerous individuals must be deported. This doesn't appear to be the priority of the British government.
Reuters
16 hours ago
- Reuters
Islamist militants free Moroccan truck drivers held since January, Mali says
BAMAKO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Islamic State-affiliated militants have released four Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in January, Mali said late on Monday, according to state media, highlighting growing intelligence cooperation between the two countries. The men and their three trucks disappeared in January while crossing without an escort from Dori in Burkina Faso to Tera in Niger, an area known for jihadist threats, a diplomatic source said at the time. They were shown alongside Mali junta leader Assimi Goita in footage broadcast on Monday night by state media, which reported that they had been freed on Sunday. Junta-led Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali are battling militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have been destabilising West Africa's Sahel region for more than a decade. All three countries have halted defence cooperation with France and other Western forces and turned towards Russia for military support. And last year they announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), raising the risk of diplomatic isolation. Morocco has meanwhile drawn closer to the three landlocked countries. In April, the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali endorsed an initiative offering them access to global trade through Morocco's Atlantic ports. Morocco also mediated to secure the release in December of four French nationals who had been held in Burkina Faso for a year. The release on Sunday of the four truck drivers came as a result of cooperation between the security and intelligence services of Mali and Morocco, Malian state media reported.
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Glasgow Times
Trial begins for suspects in Moscow concert hall attack that killed 149 people
A faction of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the March 22 incident at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in which four gunmen shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire. President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have claimed, without presenting evidence, that Ukraine had a role in the attack. Kyiv has strongly denied any involvement. Suspects accused of involvement in a terror attack in the Crocus City Hall (Pavel Bednyakov/AP) The Investigative Committee, Russia's top criminal investigation agency, said in June that it concluded that the attack had been 'planned and carried out in the interests of the current leadership of Ukraine in order to destabilise political situation in our country'. It also noted the four suspected gunmen tried to flee to Ukraine afterwards. The four, all identified as citizens of Tajikistan, were arrested hours after the attack and later appeared in a Moscow court with signs of being severely beaten. The committee said earlier this year that six other suspects were charged in absentia and placed on Russia's wanted list for allegedly recruiting and organising the training of the four. Other defendants in the trial were accused of helping them.
