04-02-2011, 04:03 PM
WikiLeaks: British Muslims sending problem children 'al-Qaeda' schools
British Muslims are sending their "problem children" to Islamic schools in Kashmir on the India-Pakistan border where they are at risk of being recruited by al-Qaeda, officials have warned.
A young Kashmiri boy shouts slogans during a protest fueled by a report of the Quran being desecrated in the United States Photo: AP
By Cristopher Hope 7:00AM GMT 04 Feb 2011
1 Comment
According to a communiqué dated July 18 2008, Laura Hickey, a senior British official, told the Americans that "stabilising Kashmir is also important for UK domestic security reasons."
Ms Hickey, the Foreign Office's Pakistan team leader, said there was "a growing trend of UK-based parents who send their 'problem children' to madrassahs in Kashmir, and these students are at high risk of radicalisation".
Later Ms Hickey told the US diplomats of "what HMG internally terms the 'Kashmir escalation effect'. This meant that "while it appears the government of Pakistan has ceased to run militant training camps in Kashmir, the camps continue to operate.
"Terrorist organisations, like al-Qaeda, have begun using these camps as recruitment centres. After additional training … recruitees are then poised to commit terrorist activities."
Britain was also concerned that "UK passport-holders will be recruited to commit terrorist operations in the UK.
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EUR SENIOR ADVISOR PANDITH AND S/P ADVISOR COHEN'S VISIT TO THE UK, OCTOBER 9-14, 2007 03 Feb 2011
"With the continued presence of militant training camps in Kashmir and over half a million UK passport-holders with ties to the region, HMG is concerned that UK nationals will be recruited to conduct terrorist activities in the UK."
The cable continued: "As part of the 'Promoting British Islam' programme, prominent Muslim Britons of Pakistani descent travel to Kashmir on goodwill trips to explain life as a Muslim in the UK."
The news adds context to comments made by David Miliband, who was then foreign secretary, on a visit to India in the following January, when he told a newspaper that "resolution of the Kashmir dispute would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms", a remark that outraged many Indians.
British Muslims are sending their "problem children" to Islamic schools in Kashmir on the India-Pakistan border where they are at risk of being recruited by al-Qaeda, officials have warned.
A young Kashmiri boy shouts slogans during a protest fueled by a report of the Quran being desecrated in the United States Photo: AP
By Cristopher Hope 7:00AM GMT 04 Feb 2011
1 Comment
According to a communiqué dated July 18 2008, Laura Hickey, a senior British official, told the Americans that "stabilising Kashmir is also important for UK domestic security reasons."
Ms Hickey, the Foreign Office's Pakistan team leader, said there was "a growing trend of UK-based parents who send their 'problem children' to madrassahs in Kashmir, and these students are at high risk of radicalisation".
Later Ms Hickey told the US diplomats of "what HMG internally terms the 'Kashmir escalation effect'. This meant that "while it appears the government of Pakistan has ceased to run militant training camps in Kashmir, the camps continue to operate.
"Terrorist organisations, like al-Qaeda, have begun using these camps as recruitment centres. After additional training … recruitees are then poised to commit terrorist activities."
Britain was also concerned that "UK passport-holders will be recruited to commit terrorist operations in the UK.
Related Articles
WikiLeaks cables: FCO 'refused to speak with doomed British hostage' 04 Feb 2011
The British counter-terror programme that 'fails to stop extremists' 03 Feb 2011
Britain refused to shut down charity US claims is funding Hamas 04 Feb 2011
WikiLeaks cables: MI6 warns of new suicide bomb wave 03 Feb 2011
WikiLeaks cables: US's anti-extremist campaign to reverse UK radicalisation 04 Feb 2011
EUR SENIOR ADVISOR PANDITH AND S/P ADVISOR COHEN'S VISIT TO THE UK, OCTOBER 9-14, 2007 03 Feb 2011
"With the continued presence of militant training camps in Kashmir and over half a million UK passport-holders with ties to the region, HMG is concerned that UK nationals will be recruited to conduct terrorist activities in the UK."
The cable continued: "As part of the 'Promoting British Islam' programme, prominent Muslim Britons of Pakistani descent travel to Kashmir on goodwill trips to explain life as a Muslim in the UK."
The news adds context to comments made by David Miliband, who was then foreign secretary, on a visit to India in the following January, when he told a newspaper that "resolution of the Kashmir dispute would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms", a remark that outraged many Indians.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass