White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite vows new wave of ‘attacks’ on westerners to avenge the murder of her terrorist teacher as he walked to a mosque in Kenya
- Abubakar Shariff Ahmed killed by unidentified gunmen in Mombasa
- Ahmed was linked to fugitive Samantha Lewthwaite, aka the White Widow
- Security sources in Kenya now fear retaliation over his death
- Preacher helped more than 100 Britons join terror group al-Shabaab
- Group counts Lewthwaite as a member and was behind shopping mall attack
- WARNING, ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
By LUCY CROSSLEY and SARA MALM
PUBLISHED: 10:11 GMT, 4 April 2014 | UPDATED: 10:22 GMT, 4 April 2014
The ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite could be planning a retaliation attack after her ‘terrorist teacher’ was shot dead this week.
Al-Qaeda leader Abubakar Shariff Ahmed was killed by unidentified gunmen as he and a friend were walking from a court in Mombasa, Kenya to a nearby mosque.
Ahmed, also known as Makaburi – meaning graveyard, is said to be the person who recruited Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, to al-Shabaab, an African-centered phalanx of Al-Qaeda.
Link: Ahmed had been linked to fugitive terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite, dubbed the White Widow, as he helped more than 100 Britons to join Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab, which counts her as a member
Lewthwaite, a mother-of-four dubbed ‘Britain’s most wanted woman’, is just one of hundreds of Britons, including Lee Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo, allegedly recruited by Ahmed.
Security services now fear that Lewthwaite is planning revenge over the death of the al-Shaabab head, and will attack Western-affiliated targets in Africa as she blames the Kenyan government for the death of Ahmed.
‘Intelligence suggests Makaburi introduced Samantha Lewthwaite to many influential figures within the al-Shabaab network – he guided her path to Jihad,’ a senior security source told the Mirror.
‘This will be seen as yet another act of war and could spectacularly backfire on the Kenyan government if they are found to be responsible for his death.
‘Lewthwaite and her associates will want revenge.’
Gang jailed for total of 82 years after masterminding a £125million heroin and cocaine plot from drugs factory hidden in leafy Yorkshire suburb
- Five men operated drugs factory in a Sheffield suburb for five months
- They cut heroin and cocaine and produced crack worth about £12million
- Police swooped after neighbours reported their suspicions about the men
- But key witnesses only felt able to testify after moving away from the UK
By DAMIEN GAYLE
PUBLISHED: 21:17 GMT, 3 April 2014 | UPDATED: 00:00 GMT, 4 April 2014
Ringleader: Mohammed Zulficar, 33, was jailed for 24 years for his leading role in a plot to distribute crack, cocaine and heroin from a Sheffield flat
A gang of five men were jailed today for their parts in a plot to cut and distribute heroin, cocaine and crack worth a stunning £125million in Yorkshire.
Ringleader Mohammed Zulficar, 33, a previously convicted heroin dealer, was sentenced to 24 years after a court heard he had begun the operation while still in prison.
His associates Adnan Lal, 27, Mohammed Ishaq, 39, Mohammed Faizan, 26, and Haidar Ali, 25, were jailed for 18 years, 16 years, 12 years and 12 years respectively.
Such was the fear they inspired, key witnesses would only testify in the trial after emigrating away from the UK.
Sheffield Crown Court heard that the men set up their operation in a rented flat in a leafy suburb of that city, where they cut heroin and cocaine and produced crack cocaine on an industrial scale.
When officers raided the property, they found ‘leftover’ kilos of cocaine and heroin with an estimated street value of about £300,000, as well as cutting agents and equipment to support a drugs preparation factory.
Investigations revealed the men had begun working in April 2010 and, over five months, would have produced class A drugs with a street value of a staggering £125million.
As he handed down the punitive sentences, with police officers flanking the courtroom for security, Judge Peter Kelson QC called the plot a ‘professional operation’ that produced drugs on a ‘massive scale’.
‘This was class A drugs supply on a massive scale and bigger than most cases I have seen come through South Yorkshire,’ the judge said.
Police probe into fraud allegations against Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman
By MATT CHORLEY, MAILONLINE POLITICAL EDITOR
PUBLISHED: 12:55 GMT, 4 April 2014 | UPDATED: 12:58 GMT, 4 April 2014
Lutfur Rahman is alleged to have more than doubled funding recommended by officers for Bengali-run charities in an attempt to buy influence
The police have been called to investigate allegations of fraud and financial mismanagement against an elected mayor in London.
The activities of Lutfur Rahman, the Tower Hamlets mayor, will also be probed by inspectors after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles ordered an investigation.
The Bangladeshi mayor is alleged to have more than doubled funding recommended by officers for Bengali-run charities in an attempt to buy influence.
Mr Rahman has denied the accusations, which were made in a BBC Panorama documentary.
The former Labour councillor was elected as independent mayor in October 2010.
Mr Pickles said serious concerns had been raised and PricewaterhouseCoopers is now on site to carry out an inspection of the council. A file is being passed on to the Metropolitan Police today.
He said: ‘It is a matter of public record that I have long been concerned about a worrying pattern of divisive community politics and alleged mismanagement of public money by the mayoral administration in Tower Hamlets.
‘Following the receipt of a number of documents, I am now taking legal steps, in the public interest, to appoint inspectors to look into the allegations in respect of Tower Hamlets.
‘I hope this sends a strong signal that robust processes are in place to investigate allegations of failures in financial management and governance in local government, under the new regime introduced by the Local Audit and Accountability Act which replaces the Audit Commission.
‘This central action is not undertaken lightly, but localism requires local transparency, scrutiny and accountability, and these vital checks and balances must be upheld.’
Mr Rahman was accused by Panorama of increasing public funding to Bangladeshi and Somali groups from £1.5 million to £3.6 million in the face of officer recommendations.
PM promises swift action to deal with ‘terror school’ plot: Hardline views ‘taught in assembly’, say teachers
- Government is believed to be investigating 12 schools in Birmingham
- There are claims male and female pupils were being segregated
- ‘Plot’ said to plan Muslim takeover, though its authenticity is questioned
- Cameron: ‘It’s not acceptable, we can’t have that happening in our country’
By LUCY OSBORNE
PUBLISHED: 22:47 GMT, 3 April 2014 | UPDATED: 23:17 GMT, 3 April 2014
David Cameron has spoken for the first time about an alleged plot by Islamic extremists to take over schools in Birmingham, promising ‘swift action’ to ensure they are not being used to spread the ideology of terrorists.
The Department for Education is believed to be investigating 12 schools in the city after claims that non-Muslim members of staff were being isolated, male and female pupils segregated and assemblies used to promote the teachings of Al Qaeda.
Yesterday the Prime Minister said: ‘We will not accept any school being run by extremists or promoting extremist views.
‘It’s not acceptable, we can’t have that happening in our country and Ofsted have all the powers they need to intervene. They are able to get in there and inspect to see where things have gone wrong.’
Allegations of the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ plot to allow hardline Muslims to take over a handful of schools were revealed last month in a leaked letter – supposedly written from one extremist to another.
It detailed a five-step plan designed to take over the running of several Birmingham state schools, and listed examples of the non-Muslim staff members who they had successfully ‘forced out’.
What a scandal no one’s been held to account for such a futile waste of British lives in Afghanistan
By STEPHEN GLOVER
PUBLISHED: 00:47 GMT, 3 April 2014 | UPDATED: 07:40 GMT, 3 April 2014
The most extraordinary thing about our involvement in Afghanistan — which officially ended on Tuesday when our troops in Helmand province handed over control to the Americans — is that neither the political class nor the general public are noticeably worked up about it.
There is a widespread and justified consensus that we were finagled into a war in Iraq by Tony Blair which cost this country many lives and a lot of money. There have been several official inquiries, of which the last, chaired by former mandarin Sir John Chilcot, has yet to report.
The war in Afghanistan was by most measures an even bigger enterprise, and, I would argue, an even more indefensible one. According to the Government, it has cost us £20 billion, though some observers believe it may be £40 billion.
The lives of 448 British servicemen and women have been lost in the fighting. That’s two and a half times the number of fatalities in the Iraq War (179), and getting on for twice the number killed in the Falklands (258).
Yet, despite all this, Afghanistan has stirred far less debate and controversy than Iraq. The end of our involvement there is greeted with a mixture of silence and boredom.
Children at secondary school ‘infiltrated by Muslim extremists’ listened to assembly praising Al-Qaeda leader, say teachers
- Staff at Park View Academy accused colleagues of sympathy for Al-Qaeda
- Claimed former terror leader Anwar al-Awlaki was praised in an assembly
- Political views sympathetic to Al-Qaeda also said to have been promoted
- Park View believed to be subject a Department of Education investigation
- Probe relates to claims hard-line Muslims are running Birmingham schools
- Park View denies all allegations, claiming they are fueled by Islamophobia
By JOHN HALL
PUBLISHED: 09:44 GMT, 3 April 2014 | UPDATED: 16:40 GMT, 3 April 2014
A secondary school in Birmingham has been accused of praising senior Al-Qaeda figure Anwar al-Awlaki during assemblies.
Two members of staff at Park View Academy claimed a senior colleague had endorsed the teachings of the now dead American-born leader of Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula, and that a viewpoint politically sympathetic to the terrorist group had been promoted in an assembly.
The Department of Education confirmed that several schools in the area – thought to include Park View – are under investigation amid claims hard-line Muslims are trying to indoctrinate pupils.
Park View Academy denies the allegations, which were made by anonymous members of staff who were speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
Investigation: Park View School is one of a dozen believed to be subject to an official probe
The two anonymous members of Park View staff reportedly insisted there was truth in the allegations that hardline Muslims had infiltrated the school.
They added that non-Muslim members of staff were being isolated, male and female pupils were being segregated, and that nepotism was apparent in the hiring of new recruits.
Allegations of radical Islamist infiltration of several schools in Birmingham, apparently including Park View, first came to light last month when a letter referring to a ‘Trojan Horse’ plot was sent to the local council, then leaked to the media.
The source and authenticity of the letter remains unclear, but it has led to the Department of Education investigating financial records and interviewing staff members at ‘more than 12 schools’ in the area.
Education Secretary Michael Gove is believed to have taken a personal interest in the investigation, which includes both faith schools and secular establishments.
Claims that Park View Academy employed members of staff sympathetic to Al-Qaeda were raised during the first visit by a journalist to the school since the ‘Trojan Horse’ allegations were made.