Radio station played 25 hours of Al Qaeda speeches calling for a holy war ‘ by mistake’

A MUSLIM radio station broadcast lectures by an Al Qaeda terror leader calling for holy war.

Iman FM transmitted 25 hours of sermons from Anwar Al-Awlaki, a hate preacher killed by a US drone strike in 2011. A complaint was made to Ofcom, which has suspended the Sheffield-based station’s licence.

The watchdog said the material ‘amounted to a direct call to action to members of the Muslim community to prepare for and carry out violent action against non-Muslim people’. Bosses at Iman FM have 21 days to explain themselves or be closed down.

They found the extremist lectures on YouTube and broadcast them during Ram- adan. Ofcom said Al-Awlaki, who was an American Muslim cleric of Yemeni descent, was an Al Qaeda leader, recruiter and trainer. He is said to have inspired the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, an attempt to blow up an American airliner and the massacre of 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas.

The lectures were broadcast in English on June 14. In one, Al-Awlaki said: ‘Prepare whatever strength you have for holy war in the cause of Allah. This is a form of worship, it is just like praying, fasting or charity – it is worship. So if holy war is compulsory, then preparation for it becomes compul- sory as well. Not all battles are played out on the battlefield, sometimes clandestine special operations are needed to inflict harm on the enemies of Allah.’

And in an attack on non-Muslims, listeners heard him say: ‘History is repeating is itself the enemies of Allah are spending billions of dollars to kill the pious disciples of the Holy Prophet, rounding them up, capturing them, and tarnishing the reputation of Islam. Lots of money is spent.’

Under broadcasting rules hate speech must not be included in TV or radio programmes except where justified by context.

Iman FM claimed to be unaware of the preacher’s background and said not all the material was checked before being aired. The Ofcom ruling described this defence as ‘not credible’.

But Mohammad Mughal, the station’s chief executive, said: ‘This is very, very sad because none of us had any idea this lecture was preaching hatred.

‘We are not just a Muslim radio station – we regularly feature Christian presenters.

‘We would never knowingly allow anyone to use our platform for anything that divides the community. But we are hopeful that this can be sorted out and we will be allowed back on air soon.’

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said they had not received any complaints.