Latest news with #Aswat
Saudi Gazette
5 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
King Salman Academy to document 52 local Saudi dialects
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — The King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language revealed that the first phase of the "Aswat Blog" project will document 52 local dialects from various regions of Saudi Arabia, with the possibility of integrating the data into artificial intelligence applications. The blog is still undergoing work on its tools and remains in the development and testing phase. According to the academy, the blog will preserve Saudi dialects, as the project's impact extends to the possibility of integrating data into artificial intelligence applications such as voice recognition and instant translation, facilitating communication and enhancing understanding of dialects used in daily life. It will provide researchers with a robust audio database to study the evolution of dialects and the impact of social and economic factors on them. The blog also seeks to raise public awareness of dialect diversity and strengthen the connection of new generations to their local dialects, in addition to Standard Arabic. According to the academy, the blog preserves Saudi dialect diversity and enables researchers to study it through a suite of analytical tools, most notably a voice detector, a sound map, and a list of common collocations. It also includes a tool for enriching the blog and verifying dialects, available for public use. It is noteworthy that the blog includes a variety of topics, including graphic storytelling, discussion of places, foods, customs and traditions, holidays, everyday situations, and quotes. The academy owns 13 blogs. The Falak Language Blogs platform, a technical platform comprising 13 language blogs supervised by the academy, enables linguistic researchers and data scientists to study linguistic phenomena and develop artificial intelligence applications in the field of Arabic language. It is noteworthy that the Aswat blog was announced by the King Salman Gobal Academy for the Arabic Language in early 2024. This is in line with its strategic plans aimed at supporting the fields of linguistic computing, accelerating the pace of scientific research, enhancing data sources, employing artificial intelligence technologies in Arabic language applications, preserving its integrity, and supporting its pronunciation and writing. This also aims to enhance its global standing, raise awareness of it, and facilitate its teaching and learning within and outside the Kingdom.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Extremist set to return home despite risk warnings
A man who plotted to set up an extremist training camp will be allowed to move home after his release from prison - despite experts concluding he "remains a risk to national security". Haroon Aswat, from Batley, West Yorkshire, was jailed for 20 years in 2015 after he admitted conspiring to set up the camp in the US state of Oregon. Having served his sentence in the US, the 50-year-old was deported to the UK in 2022 and detained under the Mental Health Act, although a court heard his release was "expected in the relatively near future" after effective treatment. A judge approved a notification order for Aswat, meaning authorities should be kept up to date with details such as his address. The hearing at the High Court on 1 April was told Aswat, who is currently being held at Bethlem Royal Hospital, is expected to return to his family in Yorkshire. He did not serve the entirety of his 20-year sentence because periods of detention in the UK while awaiting extradition were taken into account. The United States government said the purpose of the training camp was "to train young impressionable men in America to fight and kill so that so they could travel to Afghanistan to join forces with al Qaeda". Aswat had been working under the direction of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza to set up the camp. He has been diagnosed with a mental health condition called schizoaffective disorder, although in 2022 a psychiatrist concluded there was no evidence of him having the condition when the offences took place in or around November 1999. The psychiatrist said Aswat openly endorsed "extremist ideology" and had told him in an interview: "I am a terrorist." He wrote in a report ahead of his extradition: "Even when in a relatively stable mental state [Aswat] has continued to express violent extremists Islamic ideology." According to the psychiatrist, Aswat was "highly ambivalent about the need for medication and had relapsed twice as a result of stopping treatment", which had coincided with violent outbursts. His report concluded "there remains the risk of Islamic violent extremism". The High Court hearing was told Aswat has also been assessed by several police officers in the UK, who concluded he "remains a risk to national security". Sir Robert Jay, who chaired the hearing, said Aswat did not oppose the notification order being made. According to a Home Office spokesperson, notification orders "allows the police and other authorities to monitor an offender and to manage any ongoing risk they pose". The spokesperson added: "Protecting the British public is the very first priority of this government, and national security assessments are always carried out on individuals who may pose a risk to the public. "We have some of the most robust counter-terrorism risk management measures in the world, including a variety of powers for the police and intelligence services to monitor and manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders and individuals of terrorist concern." Briton jailed for US terror offences
BBC News
07-04-2025
- BBC News
Haroon Aswat could return home to Yorkshire despite risk warnings
A man who plotted to set up an extremist training camp will be allowed to move home after his release from prison - despite experts concluding he "remains a risk to national security".Haroon Aswat, from Batley, West Yorkshire, was jailed for 20 years in 2015 after he admitted conspiring to set up the camp in the US state of served his sentence in the US, the 50-year-old was deported to the UK in 2022 and detained under the Mental Health Act, although a court heard his release was "expected in the relatively near future" after effective treatment.A judge approved a notification order for Aswat, meaning authorities should be kept up to date with details such as his address. The hearing at the High Court on 1 April was told Aswat, who is currently being held at Bethlem Royal Hospital, is expected to return to his family in did not serve the entirety of his 20-year sentence because periods of detention in the UK while awaiting extradition were taken into United States government said the purpose of the training camp was "to train young impressionable men in America to fight and kill so that so they could travel to Afghanistan to join forces with al Qaeda".Aswat had been working under the direction of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza to set up the camp. 'I am a terrorist' He has been diagnosed with a mental health condition called schizoaffective disorder, although in 2022 a psychiatrist concluded there was no evidence of him having the condition when the offences took place in or around November psychiatrist said Aswat openly endorsed "extremist ideology" and had told him in an interview: "I am a terrorist."He wrote in a report ahead of his extradition: "Even when in a relatively stable mental state [Aswat] has continued to express violent extremists Islamic ideology."According to the psychiatrist, Aswat was "highly ambivalent about the need for medication and had relapsed twice as a result of stopping treatment", which had coincided with violent report concluded "there remains the risk of Islamic violent extremism".The High Court hearing was told Aswat has also been assessed by several police officers in the UK, who concluded he "remains a risk to national security".Sir Robert Jay, who chaired the hearing, said Aswat did not oppose the notification order being to a Home Office spokesperson, notification orders "allows the police and other authorities to monitor an offender and to manage any ongoing risk they pose".The spokesperson added: "Protecting the British public is the very first priority of this government, and national security assessments are always carried out on individuals who may pose a risk to the public."We have some of the most robust counter-terrorism risk management measures in the world, including a variety of powers for the police and intelligence services to monitor and manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders and individuals of terrorist concern."
Telegraph
03-04-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Terrorism suspect linked to 7/7 bombings set to be released from prison
A British terrorist linked to the 7/7 bombings is set to be freed despite remaining a 'risk to national security'. Haroon Aswat, 50, who was jailed for 20 years for plotting to form an extremist training camp has been assessed by police as continuing to be a security risk. However, a High Court judge has ruled that he can be released from a secure hospital after completing treatment for his mental ill health. Mr Justice Jay said that the release of Aswat from his detention under the Mental Health Act was now expected in the 'relatively near future', enabling him to return to his family in Batley, West Yorks. He was deported to the UK and held under a US arrest warrant, accused of attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, US before 9/11 under the direction of the hate preacher Abu Hamza in 1999. He was also said to have trained at a camp in Afghanistan in 2001, and stayed at an al-Qaeda safe house in Pakistan, where he met two 7/7 bombers. In 2005, police traced 20 calls to a phone linked to Aswat made by the 7/7 bombers, hours before their attack left 52 dead and more than 800 injured in central London. It took a decade for him to be sentenced because of various extradition and appeal hearings. In 2014, he was extradited to the US, where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2015 for supporting a foreign terrorist organisation. His 20-year jail term was cut to seven years because of time detained at Broadmoor Hospital. Before his US release in 2022, Aswat told Dr Richard Taylor, a visiting psychiatrist: 'I am a terrorist.' 'No formal risk assessment' Aswat has schizoaffective disorder. Symptoms can include unpredictable and aggressive behaviour. Dr Taylor warned that Aswat might radicalise impressionable recruits. On his return to the UK in late 2022, Aswat was detained at Bethlem Royal Hospital in south London. His move there, under provisions of the Mental Health Act, is understood to have been spurred by national security concerns. However, on Tuesday, Mr Justice Jay ruled: 'The defendant's treatment has been effective. His release from detention is expected in the relatively near future. I understand he will return to his family in Yorkshire.' Mr Justice Jay noted: 'No formal terrorist risk assessment has been carried out since the defendant's return here. The circumstances of his detention have precluded that. 'However, on the basis of the material which is available the defendant has been assessed by various police officers – including the senior officer dealing with this case – that he remains a risk to national security.' The Tories said the case exposed a loophole in legislation preventing a full risk assessment that could enable his continued detention. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'It is totally unacceptable that full risk assessments cannot be carried out. I call on the Government to urgently change the law. Those who pose a danger to the public should be taken off our streets. That's non-negotiable.' Dr Taylor travelled to the US in the summer of 2022 to prepare a report on Aswat. The report states that in 2017 Aswat made remarks to prison staff in support of al-Qaeda and threatened violence towards them. In 2022, he sent letters that made demands and death threats, seemingly motivated by a terrorist ideology. 'Violent extremism risk' Dr Taylor concluded that he openly endorsed an extremist ideology, but there was no evidence Aswat was mentally ill. However, he had had limited opportunity to address the extremist mindset and showed traits of glibness, superficial charm, charisma, intelligence and elements of manipulativeness and narcissism. Even when mentally stable, he continued to express violent, extremist Islamic ideology, Dr Taylor found. The diagnosis showed a schizoaffective disorder, with symptoms of unpredictable and aggressive behaviour. Dr Taylor did not complete a full terrorist risk assessment, but identified 15 of the 22 relevant factors in the government's extreme risk guidance. He concluded: 'There remains the risk of Islamic violent extremism motivated targeted terrorist offending behaviour given his threats to kill Jews, Christians and certain groups of Muslims. 'There is also a risk of him influencing other vulnerable individuals, as when he is in an abnormal mental state his religious extremist rhetoric is amplified by mental illness.'
